Primera Air collapse leaves passengers stranded

A budget airline has collapsed leaving passengers stranded overseas amid complaints about poor communication.

Danish carrier Primera Air – which offered long-haul flights from UK airports – ceased trading after 14 years of operation.

It said “several unforeseen misfortunate events severely affected” its financial standing.

Aviation analyst John Strickland said the airline struggled due to intense competition in London and rising fuel prices.

He told the Press Association: “It’s very hard to get known in a market where there’s a lot of competitive choice and a lot of good prices available already.

“The odds really were stacked against them. I think people in the industry have been speculating for quite a while about how long this was sustainable.”

Earlier this year Primera Air began flying from London Stansted and Birmingham to destinations such as New York and Washington, with one-way fares advertised as starting at £149.

Its collapse left thousands of passengers scrambling to find alternative flights home.

Travel firms who sold Atol-protected package holidays are responsible for providing alternative flights to bring people home or full refunds for those with future bookings.

But the only protection for anyone who made flight-only purchases is through credit or debit card providers or travel insurance policies.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said: “Passengers who have travelled will need to make their own arrangements to return home.”

Nikki Mart, from Newcastle, was due to fly home to Stansted from Toronto with Primera Air on October 14.

The 27-year-old and her partner landed in Jamaica on Monday for the start of a “dream holiday”, only to find out the airline had gone bust hours later.

She said: “I checked my emails – no communication or advice at all, which is irritating. I checked their Twitter and that’s when I saw their pathetic sign-off about going bust.

“I’m trying not to let it ruin our trip, especially as it’s happened so early on … the lack of communication, advice or empathy from Primera Air makes it so much more stressful.”

Tara Noe and her husband Remy were due to fly to Toronto with Primera Air next week for a two-week trip to take part in her first marathon.

The 42-year-old, from the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, said she is in “shock” over the announcement.

“You can’t contact them, they have shut down the phone lines and the website is inaccessible. Everything is shut down, you can’t get anywhere,” she told the Press Association.

After spending £750 on return flights, the couple have had to fork out another £368 for her replacement ticket, with her family stepping in to cover the £400 for her husband’s fare.

“We were looking to save money using them (Primera),” she said.

“I still have to try and find out if we can get our money back, or if we are going to spend the next month or two paying back this money. I don’t even know.”

The collapse of the airline comes almost a year after travel firm Monarch went to the wall, leading to the redundancies of nearly 2,000 employees.

More than 110,000 Monarch passengers were left overseas and the CAA helped repatriate stranded holidaymakers in what Transport Secretary Chris Grayling called an “unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation”.

No such assistance is being offered for Primera Air passengers as the Government is confident the affected routes are served by a sufficient number of alternative airlines with spare capacity.