Spanair suspends their operation

If I remember correctly SAS got or will get three MD-80s back.
I think that they will end like many other MD-80s in the coming years: they will be scrapped.

Maybe someone knows more about the specific frames used by Spanair (there were not many MD-80s left when Spanair collapsed.

Bye

What is happening to the MD83’s ?

Spain

I guess the two things which have killed it are the Spanish recession and High Speed rail in Spain?

I have to agree with you. It’s not a good time for Europe financially at the moment and when times get hard… people tend to stop flying (as much). The Rail network also probably didn’t act in their favour. Has anyone travelled on the high speed rail?

I think that the demise of Spanair is a combination of several factors including those mentioned by you. Spanair was in a bad shape for several years and the influence of politicians to “use Spanair as an instrument of have an airline in Barcelona” etc. was not helpful either. Up until the end of the 1990s Spanair was a well-managed airline with their main business (charter services) and scheduled flights operated by MD-80s and Boeing 767s. During the first half of the 2000s Spanair somewhat changed their cautious business-plan and during some periods Spanair expanded dramatically mostly on a scheduled basis, probably with the aim to compete with Iberia (and their domestic network during that time!!). This was not helpful to remain profitable.

During mid-2008 Spanair drastically reduced their network and all flights of AeBal were suspended in September 2008. The crash of an MD-80 in August 2008 was another factor and the public image of Spanair deteriorated. A new corporate identity was introduced but changing the livery is in most cases not the answer to counter the changes of market-conditions. During 2010 Spanair shrunk even more with the retirement of their four Boeing 717s and the return of MD-80s.

Spanair officially operated 29 aircraft on the day of their collapse including 19 Airbus A320s, five A321s and five MD-80s. The last MD-80 should have been retired from scheduled service on March 8th to reach their goal to operate Airbus-aircraft only.

I think that several airlines will enter the void left by Spanair but not on a 1:1.basis because I think that the market is currently overheated.

Best regards!

Unfortunate news, but sounds like it was yet another airline receiving state subsidies to keep it going.
I guess the two things which have killed it are the Spanish recession and High Speed rail in Spain?
With the introduction of high speed rail between Madrid and Barcelona/ Valencia, passenger numbers were hammered too, with the Barca route losing almost 2m passengers a year to rail

No doubt this will be good news for IAG, which will take up many of it’s passengers (inc the star alliance connecting passengers).

Also see here:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5370243 🙁

On-line news from Typically Spanish:

“Qatar Airways has decided not to invest in Spanair, and the Barcelona Generalitat regional government has announced they will no longer inject funds into the airline.
It means the airline will not get the 150 million € which it was expecting from Qatar for a 49% share. It seems Qatar have decided to turn away for fear of sanctions for the airline regarding the Government grants. Since 2009 the Generalitat has given more than 100 million to the airline, and Qatar wanted assurances that the European Commission would not claim that money back at a later date.

Latest reports are that the airline is preparing an application to suspend all its flights, given the fact that its financial situation is untenable, with large losses and a large debt.

The company gives direct and indirect jobs to some 4,000 people, and says it needs 150 million to face their financial obligations.”