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primera air interview


Denmark’s Primera Air is spreading its wings with budget transatlantic flights, as chief commercial officer Anastasija Visnakova tells Gary Noakes


Taking off with confidence


L


Primera Air’s Anastasija Visnakova


ook – no pizza colours, no ads,” says Primera Air’s Anastasija Visnakova proudly as she surveys the interior of the factory-fresh aircraft from Europe’s newest budget transatlantic airline. Primera’s Airbus is indeed devoid of the brash tones and adverts so beloved of no-frills carriers that like to ram home their message in technicolour. There is the subtle signature Primera yellow on the headrests throughout the cabin, but otherwise it is all understated on-trend grey that makes up the airline’s colour palette.


“I have been working in aviation for 13 years and I’m not ashamed to sell this, I’m really proud of the product,” adds Visnakova, Primera Air’s chief commercial officer. Primera’s business model, in whatever colour scheme, is one that will further shake up the way we fly long-haul, once adopted by other carriers. The secret is the aircraft type, which at first glance is best suited to shuttling between Stansted airport and Alicante – indeed, this single-aisle 198-seater has been doing just this, for training purposes, before its inaugural New York service from the same airport in May. As Visnakova speaks, the media are


filming on the tarmac at the Essex airport underneath the Airbus A321neo (New Engine Option) as the crew prepares it for its first flight to Newark. Stansted has seen US flights come and go, and the UK has had budget transatlantic services for a good few years now, but Primera can claim a unique selling proposition, at least for a while, because of the aircraft it uses.


Cost advantage Airline chiefs are rhapsodising


about the A321neo, for which Primera is the European launch customer. Flying narrow body


aircraft across the Atlantic is nothing wtm.com


new – carriers such as American Airlines have used the Boeing 757 for ‘thinner’ routes, particularly from the UK regions, for decades. But the new A321 gives an unbeatable cost advantage over the old-technology 757, Visnakova explains. “This aircraft, cost per seat, is 25% lower,” she says.


Primera, which is part of Denmark’s Primera Travel Group, has six of the new-generation Airbuses on order plus another two known as the A321LR (Long Range), which can fly 600 nautical miles (690 miles) further. This gives them a reach, when fully loaded, of around ten and a half hours – and a huge 40% cost advantage over the 757. Primera is the global launch customer for the LR later this year, and adding these to the London market in particular will create ripples. Visnakova confirms that Primera is “considering new routes from London” with these aircraft. “The A321 is the perfect product,” she says. Primera also has plans for outside the capital, saying that an airport “to the west” is under consideration for transatlantic services. It is all still under wraps, but Bristol airport would surely be very keen to see Primera there, having lost its 757 service to New York in 2010. Primera’s position at the head of the


new aircraft’s production line means that, for a good while, it will have a cost advantage over other airlines that might


summer 2018 wtm insights 17


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