Primera Air: the failed carrier's history, fleet and network

Low-cost leisure carrier Primera Air ceased trading on 2 October 2018. Routesonline looks at the failed carrier's history, fleet, network and busiest routes.

Read more: Why Primera Air paid the ultimate price

History
Having started life as an Icelandic airline, JetX, it was acquired by and renamed after Primera Travel Group, a conglomerate of Scandinavian travel agencies and tour operators. Newly formed Primera Air then ditched its Icelandic identity, first by acquiring a Danish operating licence and then another in Latvia.

Having moved its headquarters from Reykjavík to Riga in 2014, Primera Air was best described as an Icelandic-owned airline based in Latvia that specialised in flights from Denmark and Sweden.

Fleet
At the time of its failure, the airline had five Airbus A321neos, with one more on order, and two Boeing 737-800. It previously planned to take ten Boeing 737 MAX 9s in 2019, and eight MAX 9s plus two A321LRs in 2020.

Network
As of W/C 24 September 2018 (source: OAG Mapper)

Busiest routes
Summer 2018 season (source: OAG Schedules Analyser)