The little-known low-cost airline that's just launched flights from Essex to Washington DC

The low-cost long-haul revolution continues. Today saw the launch of no-frills flights from London Stansted to Washington DC, with fares from £199 one-way. 

Who is behind this new route, the first direct low-cost link between the UK and US capitals? It's not Norwegian, which has led the way with services from Gatwick to 11 American airports, nor its rival WOW Air, which flies from Reykjavik to 15 US cities, but plucky Primera Air, which will start flying from Essex to Washington DC five times a week from August 22.   

Why haven’t I heard of Primera Air?

The Icelandic-owned airline operates mainly in Scandinavia and has a fleet of just nine aircraft; seven Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737-700s. Ryanair, by contrast, has 413 planes, while EasyJet lays claim to 286.

It’s an Icelandic airline, you say?

The airline was founded in Iceland in 2003, as JetX, which was duly taken over in 2008 by the Primera Travel Group, a consortium of Nordic tour operators. Its headquarters have since moved to Riga, Latvia, and it uses a Danish operating licence. Which makes things slightly confusing. It does, however, remain Icelandic owned.  

What’s its story?

Primera Air began by offering chartered flights for Scandinavian tour operators, but soon started selling surplus seats to regular travellers as flight-only tickets. This proved successful for the airline which subsequently started venturing into new destinations and increasing the frequency of flights. Nowadays, most of Primera Air’s flights are scheduled services, though the airline does still run some chartered flights.

Where does it fly to?

There are more than 90 destinations on its route map, but many of them are seasonal and/or chartered flights. The bulk of the airline’s business involves jetting Scandinavian holidaymakers to the likes of Spain, Greece, and Italy (as well as Egypt, Bulgaria, Turkey and Portugal). The airline operates chiefly out of its Nordic bases, including Stockholm, Copenhagen and Reykjavik, but UK passengers can also use it to visit Alicante, Crete, Malaga and Mallorca. 

Why is it going long haul, then?

Primera clearly has designs on competing with the likes of Norwegian and WOW Air for the nascent market in low-cost long-haul flights to North America.

“The other low-cost carriers, at least up until now, have not been serving the transatlantic, although we do now see Norwegian stepping in,” Primera Air’s CEO, Hrafn Thorgeirsson, told Telegraph Travel.

Primera has 10 orders with Airbus for its new fuel-efficient jets – the A321neo and A321LR – which Thorgeirsson believes will enable the airline to make the route profitable.

Washington DC isn't the only route on the cards – services from Stansted to Toronto, Boston and New York (Newark) are all starting in the spring. It is also opening a long-haul base in Paris, as well as Birmingham.

Birmingham, you say?

Correct. But that big idea hasn't gone entirely to plan. In July Primera announced flights from Britain's second city to Newark and Boston. However, poor sales have seen it ditch Boston and cut the frequency of the service to Newark. It seems Brummies aren't flocking to fly to America, nor Americans to Brum. 

And why Stansted?

“At Heathrow there are no slots available and Gatwick is really saturated and very difficult to get any proper slots,” said Thorgeirsson. “Nobody is serving Stansted right now for our market.”

At Stansted, Primera will offer one daily flight to New York (Newark), four flights a week to Boston, and three flights a week to Toronto, rising to five in summer. 

How much will flights cost?

Prices for flights to Washington DC start from £199 one-way and tickets are on sale now. Tickets to other destinations (New  start at £149. So how does that compare to the competition? Well, Norwegian regularly offers flights from Gatwick to New York for, you guessed it, £149.

Neither airline includes meals or checked luggage in those fares, though passengers can travel with a 10kg bag for free.

What next?

Back in July Thorgeirsson hinted that low-cost long-haul flights to west coast America, possibly from Birmingham as well as Stansted, were also being considered.