Primera Air filing for bankruptcy citing Airbus delivery delays

Bloomberg

Primera Air is filing for bankruptcy. The Nordic carrier, which had only just started a new business flying long-range, fuel-efficient Airbus SE narrowbodies across the Atlantic, will cease operations as of midnight, it said in an emailed statement.
The airline, which along with Norwegian Air Shuttle has attempted to upend the existing trans-Atlantic thoroughfare with low-cost, long-haul flights, was forced to pay excessive costs leasing in planes to cover for the “severe” delay in deliveries of the state-of-the-art A321neos. Primera had orders due to be powered by CFM International’s Leap engine.
“This is a sad day for all the employees and passengers of Primera Air,” the airline’s board said in the statement. “The company has been working relentlessly during the last months to secure the long-term financing of the airline. Not being able to reach an agreement with our bank for a bridge financing, we had no other choice than filing for bankruptcy.”
Airbus’s A320neo family has suffered major delays due to production and design issues with the Leap as well as Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan, the competing turbine option on the aircraft. Airlines have been buying the plane as a long-haul alternative to the wide-body aircraft typically used on transatlantic routes.
A spokesman for Airbus declined to comment on a customer’s business. CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA, wasn’t immediately available to comment.
To be sure, the business of low-cost long-haul is still unproven. Norwegian, the most prominent carrier attempting to cut prices on long-haul routes, has been flagged as a bankruptcy risk amid rising fuel prices and intense competition between Europe and North America.
Primera’s demise comes just as rival Wow Air said it will cut routes including to San Francisco over the winter due to delays in deliveries of Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc powered A330neos.