Birmingham Airport is to become a new base for low-fare airline Primera Air in two months, with direct services to New York, Toronto, Malaga, Barcelona, Palma and Crete from May.
The airline plans to keep expanding from Birmingham, and 50 new jobs have already been created in flight crew and operational positions.
Speaking at a business event, Anastasija Visnakova, chief commercial officer for Primera Air, said the airline was “proud and excited” to put Birmingham on its 2018 route map, adding: “With two transatlantic and four short-haul destinations we are opening our operations here and looking forward to further development of this Primera Air base.”
“This is an important first step for us and significant development for Birmingham Airport and region. With the technology that our brand new fleet offers expensive transatlantic travel becomes a thing of history.”
Chairman of Birmingham Airport, Tim Clarke, said: “Primera has seen the enormous opportunities available in the Midlands thanks to its strong trading and cultural links with the US and Canada, and the leisure travellers’ desire to escape to warmer Mediterranean climes.”
In the last year, the West Midlands exported £6.2bn worth of goods to the USA, second only behind the South East and exported £778.5m to Canada, the highest of any region in the UK.
Primera Air is also the partner airline for a three-year campaign working with Birmingham Airport, the West Midlands Growth Company, Shakespeare’s England, Marketing Peak District & Debryshire and Visit Britain, which aim to market Birmingham and the surrounding areas to a global audience and promote direct flights to the area.
Image inset: (From left to right) Councillor Bob Sleigh OBE, Councillor Brigid Jones, Anastasjia Visnakova, chief commercial officer of Primera Air and Tim Clarke, chairman of Birmingham Airport.
