Primera to end short-haul flights from Birmingham

Primera Air said it was "committed to minimising any disruption"

Primera Air is to stop all of its European short-haul flights from Birmingham Airport this year, with seven destinations affected.

Services between Birmingham and Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona will be cancelled from 3 September.

The flights between the airport and Malaga, Alicante, Las Palma, Reykjavik and Tenerife will stop from 29 October.

Primera Air said it had taken the decision due to the fact the routes "didn't perform as well as expected".

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It said it was "deeply sorry" for the inconvenience this may cause.

In a statement, Birmingham Airport said the news was "disappointing, especially as there is so much demand for these destinations".

The airline said its priority was ensuring affected passengers were compensated in compliance with EU regulations and alternative travel arrangements had been offered, as well as the option of a full refund if appropriate.

The airline also said the number of flights from Stansted Airport to Malaga had been decreased to five flights a week and services from the airport to Alicante would be cancelled from 1 October.

Its decision did not affect Primera Air's long-haul routes from Stansted, it added.

It said overall its operations at the London airport were "showing very good results".

In June it was revealed the operator was suspending flights from Birmingham to New York and Toronto until next year.

Primera Air said since the suspension was announced it had seen reduced demand for its Birmingham winter schedule.

"With this in mind, we will need to carefully consider what is right for the business in 2019 regarding long haul services from Birmingham and will take a decision early next year," it added.