Spanair

Spanair
IATA
JK		 ICAO
JKK		 Callsign
SPANAIR
Founded 1986
Hubs
  • Barcelona Airport
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program Spanair Plus
Member lounge Sala VIP
Alliance Star Alliance
Fleet size 43
Destinations 40
Company slogan Spanair, La de todos
(Spanair for everyone)
Parent company Consortium of Investors (led by Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Inciatives) (80.1%)
SAS Group (19.9%)
Headquarters L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
Key people Mike Szücs (CEO) [1]
Website www.spanair.com
Former Spanair logo

Spanair is a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. It was, until 2009, a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines, which now holds slightly under 20% of the company.[2] Spanair provides a scheduled passenger network within Spain and Europe, with an extension to West Africa. Worldwide charters are also flown for tour companies. Its main hub is El Prat Airport in Barcelona, with focus cities at Barajas Airport in Madrid and Son Sant Joan Airport in Palma de Mallorca. The airline has 3,161 employees.[3]

Contents

History

The airline was established in December 1986 and began operations in March 1988. It was set up as a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines Systems 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 Star Alliance on 1 May 2003.[4]

The company was owned 94% by the SAS Group Scandinavian Airlines Systems. SAS Group announced in a press release 13 June 2007 that it would sell its shares in Spanair.[5] The divestment was canceled 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 group of investors from Catalonia, led by the Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Inciatives, was later accepted, whereupon SAS became a minority shareholder.[2]

A report in The Times on the day of the Madrid crash suggests that staff were threatening strike action due to concerns about the company's viability.[6]

In 2009 the airline asked for public input on a new logo,[7] with a winner being officially confirmed on 13 May 2009.

As of June 2009, Spanair has begun applying the new corporate identity to their aircraft.[8]

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

A Spanair Airbus A320 in Star Alliance livery landing at Barajas Airport, Spain. (2005)
A Spanair Airbus A320 in the new livery. (2009)

Spanair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of January 2010:[9]

Note: This list includes Star Alliance (SA) partners.

On-board service

For economy-class passengers traveling within Western Europe the airline offers a buy on board service offering food and drinks for purchase.[12]

Fleet

The Spanair fleet consists of the following aircraft as of April 2010.[13]

Spanair Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-232 19 156 2 in new livery
Airbus A321-231 5 212
Boeing 717-200 4 120
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2 153 Exit from service: 2010
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 5 170 2 Stored
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 8 109 Exit from service: 2010, 5 stored
Total 43 7 stored

As of April 2010, the average age for the Spanair fleet is 13.8 years.[14]

The airline announced on 19 August 2009 that it intends to replace 11 McDonnell Douglas jets in its fleet with new Airbus planes in 2010.[15]

Gallery

Airbus A320-232

McDonnell Douglas MD-82

McDonnell Douglas MD-83

McDonnell Douglas MD-87

Head office

Spanair's head office is now in the Spanair Building (Edifici Spanair) in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona.[16]

Previously Spanair's head office was in the Spanair Building on the grounds of Palma de Mallorca Airport in Palma de Mallorca.[17] 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. [17] In 2009 the company announced that it planned to relocate its corporate offices to Barcelona.[18] In May 2009 Spanair made Barcelona its registered domicile. The airline began to search for a site for the Spanair headquarters in Barcelona.[19] In June of that year around 200 employees protested outside of the Spanair offices in Palma, saying that the timetable to move the offices is too hasty.[18]

Incidents and Accidents

Main article: Spanair Flight 5022

On 20 August 2008 at 14:45 CEST, a Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft, flight number JK 5022, crashed with 165 passengers and nine crew members on board moments after takeoff at Madrid's Barajas Airport on a scheduled flight to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. 18 of the 172 on board survived. Initially 19 people survived, but one person died in hospital three days after the crash.[20] The initial investigation reports no deployment of flaps with failures in the take-off configuration warning system.

References

  1. ↑ Barcelona, 21 May 2009. Spanair announces the appointment of Mike Szücs as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Definitive agreement regarding the sale of Spanair signed". January 30, 2009. http://se.yhp.waymaker.net/sasgroup/release.asp?id=179309. 
  3. ↑ The company has 3,161 employees and a fleet of 45 aircraft.
  4. ↑ Spanair Star Alliance information
  5. ↑ "New direction will ensure SASs future". June 13, 2007. http://se.yhp.waymaker.net/sasgroup/release.asp?id=149514. 
  6. ↑ Steve Keenan (August 20, 2008). "'Organised chaos' at crash airline Spanair - A report suggests pilots were planning strikes as Spanair planned job cuts and fewer flights after sell-off plan failed". Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4574531.ece. 
  7. ↑ "Juntos elegimos la nueva identidad visual de Spanair." Spanair. Retrieved on 6 May 2009.
  8. ↑ "Spanair's new livery on a first A320." Skyliner. Retrieved on 6 June 2009.
  9. ↑ Spanair Codeshare Agreements
  10. ↑ Mulligan, John (28 June 2010). "Aer Lingus and Spanair in code-share agreement bid". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aer-lingus-and-spanair-in-codeshare-agreement-bid-2290575.html. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  11. ↑ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1005/S00358.htm
  12. ↑ "Menu and Minibar." Spanair. Accessed October 11, 2008.
  13. ↑ http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Spanair Spanair Fleet
  14. ↑ http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Spanair Spanair Fleet Age
  15. ↑ Reuters.com Spanair says to replace 11 jets 19 Aug 2009
  16. ↑ "Contacts." Spanair. Retrieved on 29 December 2009.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Spanair to retain HQ in Palma." The Mallorca. 23 December 2008. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Spanair workers demonstrate against move to Barcelona." thinkSpain, Wednesday 17 June 2009. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.
  19. ↑ "Spanair moves its registered domicile to Barcelona." Invest in Catalonia. 14 May 2009. Retrieved on 18 October 2009.
  20. ↑ "Spanish plane that crashed had overheated valve". Associated Press. August 21, 2008. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iZGjqoRsHwCookXNzTtwupigxBRAD92MM2O00. 

External links