A delay on the part of Airbus has been blamed by Primera Air for the suspension of its scheduled flights to New York and Toronto from Birmingham Airport.

The cancellations will take effect from June 21st, with all affected passengers believed to have been informed.

Passengers travelling before this date will not be affected.

Flights to New York have been running since May, while the departures to Toronto were expected to start on June 26th.

Primera Air pointed to a problem with an order of A321neo planes from Airbus, but did not elaborate.

The priority is ensuring those affected passengers are compensated in compliance with EU261/2004, and alternative travel arrangements have been offered to them, as well as the option of a full refund, Primera Air said in a statement.

“We are committed to handling all passenger queries as quickly as possible and have increased our customer service team who are ready on standby to offer immediate assistance and information.”

Primera Air said it was fully dedicated to providing low-cost, long-haul services for UK travellers and that transatlantic services will continue as normal from London Stansted Airport, where it has placed its first two A321neo aircraft.

Andri Már Ingólfsson, chief executive of Primera Air, said: “The plans for the transatlantic routes have been in the making for over a year and both Primera Air and Birmingham Airport have put a lot of effort into promoting the new routes which were welcomed by the region.

“Unfortunately, we did not anticipate such severe Airbus delays and the hold-up has meant we are forced to make this difficult and disappointing decision.”

The airline plans to return to Birmingham with long haul operations in 2019 when the fleet will be secured with Airbus.