A budget airline that began offering cheap long-haul flights earlier this year has collapsed leaving passengers stranded.

The Icelandic-owned airline had only begun its long-haul operations in May, with flights from the UK to New York’s Newark airport, Boston, Washington DC and Toronto starting at £149 each way.

Would-be passengers have been warned not to turn up for Primera Air flights after the discount airline ceased operations at midnight on Monday after 14 years of operations ahead of filing for bankruptcy.

Stansted said that travellers due to fly with the airline should not travel to the airport, from which Primera operated flights to Spain and the US.

Birmingham Airport referred customers to the Civil Aviation Authority advice, which urged those expecting return flights to the UK with the operator to make fresh arrangements home.

The Foreign Office said its consulate in Malaga had already been contacted for advice by a Briton.

Stansted Airport said in a statement: “Passengers due to travel with Primera Air are advised not to travel to the airport and instead contact the airline directly.”

The Danish airline said it was a “sad day” for staff and passengers but it had “no other choice than filing for bankruptcy”.

“Weighting the potential losses due to future delivery delays … and bearing in mind the difficult environment that airlines are facing now due to low prices and high fuel costs, we have decided to cease operations now,” the company said.