Primera Air canceled its maiden flight from London Stansted to Toronto saying, a “delay of aircraft delivery from manufacturer” caused the cancellation.

The transatlantic airline has offered refunds or rebooking on a future Primera Air flight, to passengers who booked flight PF45 from the Essex airport to Toronto on 31 May.

No cash refunds were offered to passengers as the airline cancelled the flights just before the 14-day deadline, which would have seen the airline pay passengers £525.

In other news, London City Airport was on Wednesday evacuated and flights cancelled after a fire alarm went off. Fire crews responded by evacuating passengers from the terminal while those on board flights were left stranded on the runway.

One passenger tweeted: “However now London City Airport is being evacuated due to fire alarm so they aren’t letting us off the plane. Tin can rattling violently.”

Investigations conducted by firefighters showed that the alert was a false alarm.

An airport spokesman said: “Thank you for the patience of passengers following the fire alarm activation. The terminal has been temporarily evacuated. Following an investigation, this has been deemed a false alarm and normal operations will proceed as soon as possible. We'll provide a further update shortly.”

The airport later tweeted: “Flights resumed at 7.20pm following the fire alarm.

“For passengers that remain in the queue to re-enter – we have opened as many security lanes as possible to get passengers through as quickly as possible. Thank you again for your patience.”

A second tweet said: “If you are concerned about your flight status, it is best to contact your airline directly or an airline representative as they will be able to share the most up-to-date info. We completely understand the inconvenience & are working hard to get you on your way.”

By Airport Pickups London