Primera Air Scandinavia (Billund) is planning to open new bases around Europe by 2020, enabled by the deliveries of A321neo and B737-9s, but will also grow at London Stansted with more than just transatlantic flights, Chief Commercial Officer Anastasija Visnakova has told The Telegraph.
"By 2021 we are expecting to have 40 aircraft, we are looking at new bases, but also to expand from our current bases. We currently have a long list, which will become a short list," Visnakova has said.
The Danish LCC has recently entered the transatlantic low-cost market with its London Stansted-New York Newark services and plans to add further destinations to the transatlantic network, including Paris CDG, Birmingham, GB, Boston, Washington Dulles and Toronto Pearson, later this year.
Primera Air Scandinavia is currently the only airline offering scheduled passenger services out of London Stansted to North America. In Birmingham, its sole competitor in this market will be leisure specialist TUI Airways, which serves Orlando Sanford and the Carribean out of the airport.
"We are definitely looking for more destinations [out of Stansted]. Not only to North America. Of course, North America is our main focus now, and the aircraft are ideal for that, but also in the opposite direction," Visnakova has said, adding that the carrier will announce new routes from the London airport later this year.
The Danish carrier took delivery of its maiden Airbus A321neo on April 17. This summer, Primera Air plans to operate three aircraft of the type, primarily on its transatlantic network, alongside a B757-200 wet-leased from National Airlines and a B767-300(ER) wet-leased from euroAtlantic Airways. The wet-leases are necessary due to A321neos delivery delays.
In total, Primera Air ordered eight A321neos.
The carrier has also ordered ten B737 MAX 9s directly from Boeing and will be the type's launch operator once deliveries commence in 2019. Primera Air has also secured a further eight B737 MAX 9s on lease from Air Lease Corporation.
Besides transatlantic flights, the carrier is also expanding its presence in the UK leisure market, mostly with flights to Spain. For the time being, Primera Air continues to operate a significant number of leisure routes out of Scandinavia, mainly out of Copenhagen Kastrup, Billund, and Aalborg. Its Latvian subsidiary Primera Air Nordic flies predominantly out of Stockholm Arlanda, Gothenburg Landvetter, and Reykjavik Keflavik.
