Spanair

Infobox Airline
airline = Spanair

---

logo_size = 300
fleet_size = 60
destinations = 25
IATA = JK
ICAO = JKK
callsign = SPANAIR
parent = SAS Group
founded = 1988
headquarters = Palma de Mallorca, Spain
key_people = Lars Lindgren (Chairman)
Marcus Hedblom (Chief Executive Officer)
hubs = Barajas International Airport
El Prat International Airport
focus_cities = Son Sant Joan Int'l Airport
Tenerife North Airport
frequent_flyer = Spanair Plus
lounge = Sala VIP
alliance = Star Alliance
website = http://www.spanair.com

Spanair is an airline based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines Systems that 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 base is Son Sant Joan Airport, with hubs at Barajas International Airport, Madrid and El Prat International Airport, Barcelona. It employs 2535 staff.

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 767-300 aircraft to Washington and Buenos Aires in the late 1990s. Spanair joined Star Alliance in 2003.

The company is owned 94% by the SAS Group. SAS Group announced in a press release June 13, 2007 that it would sell its shares in Spanair. [cite web |url=http://se.yhp.waymaker.net/sasgroup/release.asp?id=149514 |title=New direction will ensure SASs future |date=June 13, 2007] The divestment was canceled on June 19, 2008 due to SAS not being able to sell for a price that it considered to "reflect the underlying value in Spanair".

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. [cite web |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4574531.ece |title='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 |author=Steve Keenan |publisher=Times Online |date=August 20, 2008]

New routes

*Daily flights from Madrid to Algiers and Casablanca and from Barcelona to Algiers all starting May 20, 2007. The flights will be operated by Airbus A320-200 aircraft. Daily flights from Bilbao to Jerez in the summer of 2007.
*Spanair will increase the frequency of its flights to Algeria as of September 2007, will offer two more passages in the Algiers-Barcelona line and one more in the Algiers-Madrid line. It will also start daily flights the next summer and inaugurate the Algiers-Palma de Mallorca line. [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i7Wc2g3Gy_kq-4MFYeg8z23SIaFw]

Accidents and incidents

On August 20, 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 from Terminal 4 at Madrid's Barajas Airport on a scheduled flight to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Only 18 of the 172 on board survived. Initially 19 people survived, but one person died in hospital 3 days after the crash.cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iZGjqoRsHwCookXNzTtwupigxBRAD92MM2O00|title=Spanish plane that crashed had overheated valve |publisher=Associated Press |date=August 21, 2008]

Destinations

Fleet

The Spanair fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 9 September 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=JK&al_op=1] :

Codeshare agreements

Spanair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of April 2008: [ [http://www.spanair.com/web/en-gb/About-Spanair/Star-Alliance/ Spanair Codeshare Agreements] ]

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

References

External links

* [http://www.spanair.com/en/ Spanair] en icon/es icon
* [http://www.sasgroup.net SAS Group] en icon
* [http://www.1001crash.com/index-page-description-accident-MD82_Spannair-lg-2-crash-212.html Spanair MD-82 crash - August 20th 2008] - Investigation and photos

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