The transatlantic ultra low cost carrier market sure has been heating up lately, especially with Norwegian and WOW Air. With the new 737MAX and A320neo aircraft in service, we’re going to see even more transatlantic flights operated by small aircraft, which opens up lots of opportunities for ultra low cost carriers to serve point-to-point markets.
In July we first learned that Primera Air would be launching transatlantic flights as of next spring. Primera Air is a European leisure airline, though as of next spring they’ll be operating the following transatlantic routes:
- London Stansted to Newark 1x daily starting April 19, 2018
- London Stansted to Boston 4x weekly starting May 18, 2018
- Birmingham to Newark 1x daily starting May 18, 2018
- Birmingham to Boston 4x weekly starting June 22, 2018
- Paris Charles de Gaulle to Newark 1x daily starting May 18, 2018
- Paris Charles de Gaulle to Boston 3x weekly starting June 21, 2018
The airline has a total of eight A321neo aircraft on order, plus two A321LR aircraft.
While announcing six US routes at once is pretty substantial, the airline is now further expanding their transatlantic route network to Canada. Primera Air will be adding flights from Toronto to Birmingham, London Stansted, and Paris Charles de Gaulle as of next summer.
Specifically, these flights will start as of the following dates:
- Toronto to London 3x weekly as of May 19, 2018
- Toronto to Paris 4x weekly as of June 22, 2018
- Toronto to Birmingham 3x weekly as of June 23, 2018
Tickets are now for sale at primeraair.com, and fares start at 199CAD one-way, though that’s based on a roundtrip purchase. The taxes are higher on the flights departing Europe, so it looks like the cheapest roundtrip ticket departing Canada is about 480CAD (~380USD), though that doesn’t include any extras. The pricing goes up from there.
In terms of their onboard product, Primera Air has both an economy and premium economy cabin. In economy, what’s included depends on the type of fare you book. Premium economy seats look similar to what you’d get in domestic first class in the US, and all of those fares include hand baggage, a checked bag, a meal, and priority boarding.
Anyone considering flying with Primera Air between Toronto and Europe?
Checked prices for family of four Comfort round trip BHX-Newark in July, just for fun, and BA was cheaper, albeit from Thiefrow, though the cost of getting there is comparable. These small guys are fine till things go wrong, not enough flights or planes to accommodate the displaced if a flight gets cancelled or diverted.
Just looked, First week of June 1400 round trip all in for premium economy ain't bad from EWR to STN. Slightly more expensive than Norwegian's premium economy for the same dates, with one less checked bag. Interested to see how the two compete on soft product. Personally I'll take a 787 out of JFK to Gatwick over an A321 out of EWR to Stansted any day of the week though.
Interesting note in their taxes...
Just looked, First week of June 1400 round trip all in for premium economy ain't bad from EWR to STN. Slightly more expensive than Norwegian's premium economy for the same dates, with one less checked bag. Interested to see how the two compete on soft product. Personally I'll take a 787 out of JFK to Gatwick over an A321 out of EWR to Stansted any day of the week though.
Interesting note in their taxes and fees section, they charge a $6 USD "September 11 Security Fee", does anyone know what that is about?
@ GuruJanitor -- The $5.60 security tax that's charges on every flight from the US is referred to as that, oddly.
Yes! Hopefully this is going to add to the competition between airlines and rwduce prices. Also it's probably more comfortable Y than Rouge.
We Canadians will always take additional options to Europe, especially a cheaper one!