An airline with 25 years of history

Spanair was founded in December 1986 as a joint venture between SAS and Teinver, but it was not until March 31, 1988, that flight operations began, with a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 named “Sunrise” based in Palma taking off for Bilbao. Initially, Spanair was a 100% charter airline dedicated to transporting tourists to Spain, mainly to the Balearic and Canary Islands. That same year, Spanair added the MD80 to its fleet, an aircraft that would become the bulk of the fleet throughout its history in its three extended versions, MD81, MD82, and MD83.

In 1991, faced with high demand for seats, Spanair took delivery of two B767-300s directly from the Boeing factory, making it the first airline in Spain to operate this model, followed later by Air Europa and Privilege Style, among others.

In 1994, the Spanish aviation landscape changed completely. With the liberalization of airspace, the monopoly of the Iberia group (Iberia, Aviaco, and Binter) came to an end. Spanair decided to enter the domestic market, and shortly thereafter, the international market as well. During this period, it also created its own ground handling service, which would eventually become Newco, as well as its own ticket sales division. It was also during this period that Spanair updated its corporate image.

In 1997, the airline made the leap to the intercontinental market, inaugurating Washington as its first destination from Madrid. Later, other destinations were added, such as New York, Havana, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paolo. To meet the growing demand during this period of expansion, Spanair added a third B767 leased from Lauda Air and a total of eight B757-200s, also leased.

In 1999, after studying various possibilities, Spanair signed an agreement with Airbus to renew its short- and medium-haul fleet with single-aisle aircraft from the European manufacturer. The first A321 was added in November 2000 and the first A320 in December of the same year. Spanair thus became the first Spanish operator to have an A321 with ACT (Additional Center Tanks).

In 2000, it added the B717 model to its fleet through the airline AeBal (Aerolíneas de Baleares), an aircraft that would provide flexibility for inter-island and regional routes. Later, the aircraft would also be incorporated into Spanair itself.

Following the September 11 attacks, Spanair decided to cancel all its intercontinental flights and return the three B767s that covered those routes to Lauda and the leasing company, offering codeshare flights as an alternative for those routes. The last of these would leave the fleet at the end of 2002.

It was during this stage that Spanair implemented electronic check-in via its website and with self-check-in machines at airports, becoming the first airline in Spain to incorporate this technology.

On May 1, 2003, Spanair became a full member of Star Alliance, the world largest and most prestigious airline alliance.

During this period, Spanair enjoyed a good reputation and its market share made it the second largest airline in Spain.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, economic difficulties began to emerge. In August of that same year, one of the airline MD-82s suffered a serious accident in Madrid.

Given the company already evident financial difficulties, and those of SAS, which was the airline majority shareholder, it was decided to put Spanair up for sale. Several names were mentioned as potential buyers of the Spanish company, including Marsans, Gadair, and even Iberia itself, although this was not allowed due to competition issues.

In 2009, IEASA (Iniciatives Empresarials Aeronàutiques S.A.) acquired 80% of the company, with the remaining 20% remaining in the hands of SAS. The group unveiled a new logo and focused its operations in Barcelona, where it established its hub. In June of that same year, Spanair officially inaugurated the new T1 terminal in Barcelona with a flight to Madrid.

The company appeared to be losing market share, and the turbulence surrounding its sale undermined its credibility. The Catalan government continued support for Spanair led the airline association ELFAA to file a complaint against Spanair with the European Commissioner for Competition for violating European free competition legislation.

In June 2011, Spanair was desperately seeking a capital injection, contacting some companies in the Star Alliance group, but without much interest on their part. Spanair contacted the French investment bank Lazard, but was unable to reach an agreement there either. In November 2011, Qatar Airways announced its intention to acquire up to 49% of Spanair shares, with the aim of immediately launching long-haul flights from Barcelona to America and Asia with A330 aircraft.

On January 27, 2012, Qatar Airways announced that it would not invest in Spanair following the European Union refusal to withdraw complaints filed by ELFAA (which included Vueling and Ryanair, among others) regarding public subsidies. That same afternoon, the Catalan government decided to stop investing in the airline.

Finally, on January 28, 2012, at 2:00 a.m., Spanair decided to cease all operations, landing its last flight in Madrid from A Coruña.

Thus, with great sadness, more than 25 years of Spanish aviation history came to an end.