It appears Spanair, Spain’s largest private airline, has gone bust after a Qatar investment fund pulled out of an investment talk.
EFE, the news agency, is tonight reporting that the company is preparing a report, to be presented tomorrow to Spains’ aviation authority, admitting that it has run out of cash and cannot continue to operate.
AENA, the airports authority, is preparing for a wave of cancellations as from midnight, and has already started to negotiate with other carriers to ensure passengers can continue with their journeys. The Spanair website was taken offline earlier this afternoon with no explanation, with just a telephone number.
The company owes 150 million euros in direct loans, has been losing money for months, and has large unpaid fuel bills, says El Mundo.
Meanwhile, unions warn that apart from the 2,000 jobs likely to be lost at the airline, a further 1,200 ground staff are also likely to be laid off, as their jobs depend upon servicing the airline.
Spanair was the airline whose plan crashed at Barajas airport several years ago, killing several hundred, and whose engineers are currently in court charged with manslaughter and negligence.
El Mundo – Spanair airline goes bust