All Spanair flights have been cancelled and the company will commence bankruptcy proceedings.

It´s all over for Spanair.

The company has announced the cessation of all operations from 2am on Saturday morning the last plane landing at 10pm tonight.

All flights are now cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers to seek alternative flights.

The company cites " the lack of visible financing for the forthcoming months " and says that it is ceasing activities as a prudent and security measure.

The airline will now enter into bankruptcy protection.

 

The crisis unravelled during today, as the Catalan Regional Government announced that it would no longer be able to subsidise the airline following the collapse of buyout talks with Qatar Airways.

 

The regional administrations have injected more than 100 million euros into the airline, but have now reached a point at which they are no longer in a position to support it any further.

 

The cancellations began late afternoon and the last flight landed at 10pm tonight.

 

As part of today´s cessation of operations, Spanair contacted other airlines and co-ordinated flight schedules with AENA in an attempt to ensure that as many of its passengers were transferred to other flights as possible.

 

Passengers who were scheduled to fly with Spanair or have purchased a ticket for the coming days, weeks or months are being advised to check for information on the website of the company, www.spanair.com on how to proceed to recover their money, or call 902 13 14 15.

 

In a press statement the company says it " regrets the situation and apologises to all passengers who are affected." It also asks for assistance from other airlines to ensure that passengers are not stranded.

The decision to cease operations tonight will affect 300 passengers tonight, and result in  the cancellation of 91 flights on Saturday, affecting 8695 passengers and 129 on Sunday, leaving 14,076 passengers affected.

 

Iberia, Vueling, Air Europa , Air Nostrum Easyjet and Ryanair have all issued statements that they are covering some of the services affected, offering crisis flight seats and AENA have prepared waiting areas for passengers at El Prat and Barajas to offer more comfortable areas for stranded passengers.

 

Spanair employed 2000 staff and invoiced 600 million euros annually, but has been undergoing extreme turbulence in its own operations, with unsustainable losses of 115.72 million euros.

 

The company had a 22% share of the domestic market, but limited its routes, focusing mainly on flights from Madrid to Barcelona, Bilbao, La Coruna, the Balearics and Canaries.

 

Click for story posted just a few days ago, Ryanair says Spaniar is dead in the water

Back to News