The budget airline, Primera Air, has collapsed. At midnight on Monday, the airline announced that it was terminating all operations.

Earlier this year, the budget airline began offering long-haul flights from the UK. This included flights from London Stansted to Washington and New York in the US.

Flights to the US from Stansted on Monday evening did not depart. Moreover, passengers have been advised not to fly on Tuesday.

The majority of Primera Air’s flights involved flying from Scandinavia to European destinations such as Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey.

As a result of the airline’s collapse, thousands of passengers have been left stranded abroad.

Primera Air’s cabin crew are also among those left stranded abroad.

One Canadian passenger was set to board a flight from Paris to Toronto. However, in the queue, passengers were informed that the flight had been cancelled.

Angela Dorau, Primera Air passenger, said:

“Everybody was stranded. Currently my husband and I are in a dumpy motel by the airport trying to frantically scrounge together the funds to pay for another way home.”

Moreover, Britain’s airline authority has said it will not intervene to return UK passengers home.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has insisted that it will not intervene because passengers are not Atol protected. Because of this, British passengers will have to arrange their return home themselves. UK passengers have also been advised to contact their travel insurance for further information.

This reaction from the CAA contrasts that of when the airline Monarch collapsed last year. The CAA assisted in bringing roughly 110,000 customers home.

Consequently, Stansted airport has released the following statement:

“Passengers due to travel with Primera Air are advised not to travel to the airport and instead contact the airline direct for the latest information regarding their flight”.

“Tour operator passengers are kindly suggested to address their tour operations and agents for further information and actions”.

An additional passenger, Tara Noe, had booked a flight to Toronto. The passenger has commented on the airline’s service:

“You can’t contact them, they have shut down the phone lines and the website is inaccessible. Everything is shut down, you can’t get anywhere”.

A statement on the airline’s website reads:

“On behalf of Primera Air team, we would like to thank you for your loyalty. On this sad day we are saying Goodbye to all of you.”