Spanair

Spanair S.A. was a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. Until 2009, it was a subsidiary of the SAS Group; the same parent company in control of Scandinavian Airlines and held slightly under 20% of the company.<ref name="se.yhp.waymaker.net">Template:Cite web</ref> Spanair provided a scheduled passenger network within Spain and Europe, with an extension to West Africa. Worldwide charters were also flown for tour companies. Its main hub was Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport, with focus cities at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport and Palma de Mallorca Airport. The airline had 3,161 employees<ref name="spanair1"/> and was a Star Alliance member from 2003 until its demise on 27 January 2012.

History

File:Spanair first logo.png

First Spanair logo (1986–1999)

File:Spanair former logo (2007).svg

Second Spanair logo (1999–2009)

Foundation and early years

The airline was established in December 1986 and began operations in March 1988. It was set up as a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines and Viajes Marsans, and began operations with European charters. Long-haul flights to the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic were launched in 1991, followed by domestic scheduled flights in March 1994. The airline flew long-haul flights with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft to Washington and Buenos Aires in the late 1990s.

Spanair joined the Star Alliance on 1 May 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

SAS announced in a press release 13 June 2007 that it would sell its shares in Spanair.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The divestment was cancelled on 19 June 2008 due to SAS not being able to sell for a price that it considered to "reflect the underlying value in Spanair." On 30 January 2009, however, a one-euro bid from a group of investors from Catalonia, led by the Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Initiatives, was later accepted, whereupon SAS became a minority shareholder.<ref name="se.yhp.waymaker.net"/>

A report in the British newspaper The Times on the day of the 2008 Madrid crash suggests that staff were threatening strike action due to concerns about the company's viability.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2009 the airline asked for public input on a new logo,<ref>"Juntos elegimos la nueva identidad visual de Spanair." Spanair. Retrieved on 6 May 2009.</ref> with a winner being officially confirmed on 13 May 2009. As of June 2009, Spanair began applying the new corporate identity to their aircraft.<ref>"Spanair's new livery on a first A320." Skyliner. Retrieved on 6 June 2009.</ref>

Demise

On 25 January 2011, the company was in an "Emergency Financial Situation". The Catalan government approved a €10.5 million loan plan in order to save it. Revenue improved and the company began cutting costs. Financially troubled during its last few years, Spanair ended operations on 27 January 2012, after Qatar Airways pulled out of talks to inject cash into the airline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a result, SAS had a write-down of 1.7 billion Swedish kronor ($251 million U.S.).<ref>Alder, Tony and Ola Kinnander. "SAS Shares Drop as Spanair Ends Operations: Stockholm Mover." Bloomberg Businessweek. 31 January 2012. Retrieved on 31 January 2012.</ref> Ana Pastor, the development minister of Spain, said that the Spanish government may fine the airline 9 million euros (US$12 million) after breaking serious aviation security rules by shutting down without proper notice.<ref>"Spanair shut-down strands passengers." Agence France Presse at the Kuwait Times. Retrieved on 31 January 2012.</ref><ref>Minder, Raphael and Nicola Clark. "Spain Threatens Fine After Airline's Quick Close." The New York Times. January 30, 2012. Retrieved on January 31, 2012.</ref> The carrier said all flights would remain suspended, but it did not say whether it planned to file for bankruptcy.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref name="UPI-Jan28">Template:Cite web</ref> The last passenger flight was JK1326 from Trondheim to Las Palmas.

Corporate affairs

Head office

Spanair head office in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona

Spanair's head office was located in the Spanair Building (Edifici Spanair) in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona.<ref>"Contacts." Spanair. Retrieved on 29 December 2009. "Edifici Spanair. Plaça d'Europa 54-56, 08902 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)"</ref>

Previously Spanair's head office was in the Spanair Building on the grounds of Palma de Mallorca Airport in Palma de Mallorca.<ref name="TheMallorcaRetain">"Spanair to retain HQ in Palma." The Mallorca. 23 December 2008. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.</ref> In 2008, during the changes in ownership, Spanair said that its head office would remain in Palma de Mallorca, despite rumors that the company would relocate its head office to Barcelona. <ref name="TheMallorcaRetain"/> In 2009 the company announced that it planned to relocate its corporate offices to Barcelona.<ref name="Thinkspainprotest">"Spanair workers demonstrate against move to Barcelona." thinkSpain, Wednesday 17 June 2009. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.</ref> In May 2009 Spanair made Barcelona its registered domicile. The airline began to search for a site for the Spanair headquarters in Barcelona.<ref>"Spanair moves its registered domicile to BarcelonaTemplate:Dead link." Invest in Catalonia. 14 May 2009. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.</ref> In June of that year around 200 employees protested outside of the Spanair offices in Palma, saying that the timetable to move the offices was too hasty.<ref name="Thinkspainprotest"/>

Service concept

For economy-class passengers traveling within Western Europe the airline offered a buy on board service offering food and drinks for purchase.<ref>"Menu and Minibar." Spanair. Accessed March 15, 2011.</ref> Spanair also had revamped their own frequent flyer programme, which was renamed Spanair Star. It was innovative for allowing members to redeem points immediately, in the form of a discount on a future flight.

Sponsorship

Between 1995 and 2005, Spanair was the main kit sponsor of Spanish football club RCD Mallorca.

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Spanair had codeshare agreements with the following airlines until of January 2012,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Airlines marked with * were members of Star Alliance at the time of Spanair's collapse.

Aegean Airlines* Air Canada* Air China* airBaltic Air Europa Template:Small

Austrian Airlines* Blue1* British Midland International* Brussels Airlines* TAM Airlines* Asiana Airlines*

All Nippon Airways* Croatia Airlines* Egyptair* Estonian Air Lufthansa* LOT Polish Airlines*

Scandinavian Airlines* Singapore Airlines * Swiss International Air Lines * TAP Air Portugal * Thai Airways International * Turkish Airlines *

US Airways * United Airlines * Continental Airlines *

Fleet

Spanair Airbus A320-200 in a hybrid livery with old titles and new tailfin design

Spanair Airbus A320-200 in the final full livery that was only applied to a few aircraft

Spanair Airbus A320-200 in Star Alliance livery

Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-83 in the former livery (2005)

Final fleet

The Spanair fleet consisted of the following aircraft at the time of closure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Spanair fleet

Aircraft	In service	Passengers			Notes
		C	Y	Total
Airbus A320-200	19	48	108	156	Flexible two-class layout
		—	180	180
Airbus A321-200	5	—	212	212
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	2	—	153	153	Leased from Scandinavian Airlines
McDonnell Douglas MD-87	2	—	125	125	Flexible two-class layout
Total	28

Retired fleet

Spanair operated the following aircraft before its closure:Template:Cn

Spanair former fleet

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Boeing 717-200	4	2007	2011	Transferred to Blue1
Boeing 757-200	2	1996	1998	Leased from Airtours International Airways
	4	1999	2000	Leased from Air2000, Air Holland, and Monarch Airlines
Boeing 767-300ER	3	1991	2002	One leased from Lauda Air
Fokker 100	3	2005	2008	Leased from Girjet
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51	1	1989	1989
McDonnell Douglas MD-81	3	2005	2006	Leased from Scandinavian Airlines
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	15	1990	2009	Flexible two-class layout
	1		2008	crashed as Spannair Flight 5022
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	25	1993	2011
	1	1991	1991	Private Jet expedition use
McDonnell Douglas MD-87	18	1996	2011

Accidents and incidents

• On 10 May 2001, Spanair Flight 3203 (McDonnell Douglas MD-83 EC-FXI named "Sunseeker") was substantially damaged when the starboard undercarriage collapsed while landing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> All 45 passengers and 5 crew members on board safely evacuated from the aircraft by using the escape slides.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The substantially-damaged aircraft was repaired and returned to service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• On 20 August 2008 at 14:45 CEST, Spanair Flight 5022 (McDonnell Douglas MD-82 EC-HFP named "Sunbreeze"), crashed with 166 passengers and six crew members on board moments after takeoff at Madrid's Barajas Airport on a scheduled flight to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Initially 19 of the 172 people aboard the aircraft survived, but one person died in a hospital three days after the crash.<ref name="AP-Aug21">Template:Cite news</ref> The initial investigation reports no deployment of flaps, with failures in the take-off warning system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• AeBal-Spanair Link
• List of airlines of Spain
• List of airports in Spain
• List of companies of Spain
• Transport in Spain

External links

• SpanairTemplate:In lang
• Template:Webarchive (Archive)
• Spanair mobile version Template:In lang (Archive)
• SAS Group Template:In lang
• Spanair MD-82 crash - August 20th 2008 - Investigation and photos