Ben has an obsession with random, start-up airlines. Over the years he's written in detail about: -- Air Belgium -- Baltia -- La Compagnie I read these stories with amusement, and find them entertaining, but it's unlikely I'll ever fly them, as I would not go out of my way to do so.
Continue reading: The Curious Case Of Primera Air And Their Transatlantic Ambitions
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I would take a chance on this airline if I wasn't in a hurry to get there. By being flexible it's a heck of a deal it seems. There is more to the story though. https://airlinegeeks.com/2018/08/30/primera-air-continues-rapid-expansion-with-new-transatlantic-service-to-germany/
They’ve previously announced that they’re opening a base in Brussels and today they’ve also announced that they’ll be opening a base in Berlin TXL with a fleet of 737 MAX 9s (which I thought didn’t have the range for flights from Berlin to the US east Coast).
I think, to most of us, their business plan seemed smart enough, but their execution has been so poor. Couple their aircraft delivery delays and what I think is completely uninspiring branding and you have a failure waiting to happen.
@ DaninMCI, @Flo - I wrote and finalised this article yesterday before the TXL routes were announced on AirlineRoute. That's why this article was scheduled to be published first this morning. I'll update the article to reflect the Berlin plans.
Curiouser and curiouser...
Actually, they have flights announced and scheduled between Brussels and New York as of May 2019. I even think they are bookable. For me this came out of the blue as well as I barely heard of the airline prior to the announcement that they were coming to my home airport.
Booked them in November from yyz-cdg for $398 CDN...if omaat wants to sponsor a premium meal for me I’ll take plenty of pictures
Damn it, James. I cannot believe you fell for that Forbes opinion piece. It’s been THOROUGHLY debunked and the TINIEST bit of scrutiny shows that the author of that article mistakes the basic terms if revenue versus profit. They’re not the same thing at all, and the author of that piece cavalierly uses them interchangeably, which is disappointing for Forbes. There was nothing in that article at all that demonstrates profitability in that route (and I’ve worked with two airlines in their network profitability group and can tell you that while revenues are high, profits are not). Bottom line, stay away from things you don’t understand.
Meanwhile, my friend flew Dulles- stansted on Wednesday and was satisfied. Paid $300 one way, got an amazing exit row seat, and flight was on time. And full. So they’re doing something right-ish, maybe?
@ Jason - what Forbes opinion piece? I have no idea what you are talking about...
My thoughts on Primera are the culmination of various decisions and announcements ive been monitoring over the past 12+ months.
I didn't stumble across a news article yesterday and decide to create an entire article about it.
@James - that link above you put in your article referencing "profitable flights" isnt actually written by a Forbes author. Forbes has a website that allows almost anybody to post on any business topic, without ANY editorial review. That's what the piece you linked to regarding "profitability" was. It was written by somebody who was able to collect revenue numbers for various air routes (which is publicly available in many jurisdictions) and somehow conflate "revenue" with "profitability", which are two vastly different things. Just because there's a lot of revenue doesn't necessarily mean that there's profitability, as profitability also has a cost component. That article was WIDELY reviled, rebuked, and criticized, and shown to be completely bunk. I've worked for two rather large airlines that fly NYC - London and can tell you that while revenues were there profitability usually wasnt.
Separate, of course, from your thoughts on Primera. That said, practice a little editorial control moving forward.
@ Jason - ohhhh... you meant an article on route profitability generally! I thought you meant there was some in depth analysis on Primera Air's route strategy, pricing and profitability you thought I had just copied and presented as my own opinion!
That makes a lot more sense now! I was thinking 'what on earth is he talking about?!?'
I'll remove the Forbes link - its only briefly mentioned in passing and has no impact on the argument I'm trying to make. Primera are obviously not going to be affecting BA's profits on this route with their haphazard planning and execution.
Also flying between Paris-CDG and Montreal-Trudeau and Tel Aviv beginning October 28, 2018.
https://www.travelpress.com/primera-air-introduces-new-montreal-route/#.W4lCWsDPy8E
I am similarly perplexed by this airline - I have no idea what they are trying to do! I think Robs piece at Heads for Points pretty much sums it up... it makes no sense to use this airline...
@james - lol -no worries!! I, too, share your skepticism regarding Primera. They seem a little random. That said, as I mentioned, my friend flew them the other night IAD - STN and was happy with his $300 one way fare (maybe they're getting more on Dulles?). He said it was full and that people were envious of the huge amount of legroom that he had in his exit row seat that he paid $60 extra for. He just needed a one way ticket to London and this fit the bill.
Yeah, those Forbes contributor articles are highly questionable. Thanks for looking!
Keep up the good work and have a great weekend!
Fingers crossed they keep flying for at least the next two weeks--I'm counting on them to fly me STN-BOS for a wedding!
Happy to take photos and write a few words about the food if OMAAT wants to sponsor a premium meal 🙂 There's no way I'm paying £60 for economy-class gruel!
£60 for a meal. They are having a laugh . You can have a great meal in a fine restaurant for less , excluding wine and for 2 £120 I have spent less in a Michelin rated establishment. I would contact their PR office. The average economy airline meal costs around £5.
My brother flew them ewr to stn for $81 last minute. To get home he ended up flying easyjet to Paris and then CDG to EWR for $220. The easyjet flight to Paris cost more than the transatlantic.
I mean, the fare isn't technically $8. Add a lot more money for a checked bag and you have a pretty decent "fare" for Primera to enjoy.
@Anthony: "Add a lot more money for a checked bag and you have a pretty decent “fare” for Primera to enjoy." Not to mention a $70 meal or two. Maybe their business model is to have these paid meals be the only food on board. Starving passengers have to pay up, or continue to starve.
This airline is a total scam. See #donotflyprimera for the horror stories. They owe hundreds of customers refunds for cancelled flights yet none of us have seen a dime. It's criminal how they are functioning in many respects.
Not even $300 r/t EWR-CDG for late October.
Prob more expensive if paying for bags and seats, obviously but for some this will definitely work for them.
+1 to watch this airline! YUL-CDG is so crowded I cannot understand how they could pick this route : AF, AC, Air Transat, Level, Corsair and Wow Air (via Iceland)
@ Michael - I only consider it different as it's not a fixed cost to the airline like a departure fee is.
I flew Stansted to Newark last week right when news was breaking that Primera's nonstop flights were stopping in Iceland. My flight did not have to stop but was still a little over 8 hours long due to strong winds. I had flown my outbound flight using United mileage, but it was so last minute my return was not available. I was really surprised that the Primera leg room seemed roomier. I'm short, so it's a big deal for me to say that my United flight felt so cramped. Obviously, United feeds you dinner on their redeye flights, so I suppose the higher price gets you that much. However, knowing that Primera wouldn't feed me, I bought dinner to bring on my flight. Another major plus for me was that Primera had USB outlets throughout, but United only had it for the first 20 rows (of course I was in row 21). All in all, my experience with Primera was more pleasant.
Had our ‘flagship flight’ from Dulles to London cancelled on the morning of the flight, and have read lots of horror stories from people who’ve experienced serious delays or cancellations, and then also had to wait an unduly long time for refunds or reimbursements, or haven’t received them at all...
My sense is of an overstretched venture, undermined by poor planning decisions, relying contractors to (badly) deliver its key customer service components, and which hasn’t sufficient cash-flow to adequately cover its costs; which are being added to by the increasing numbers of people with legitimate claims for recompense.
They owe me over £2K in reimbursement, and are liable for €600 in compensation. Whether I’ll get either remains to be seen, but I hope that if I do, it’s not as the result of some aviavtory Ponzi scheme...