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 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 767-300ER aircraft to Washington and Buenos Aires in the late 1990s. Spanair joined Star Alliance on 1 May 2003.
The company was 94% owned by the SAS Group. SAS announced in a press release 13 June 2007 that it would sell its shares in Spanair. The divestment was cancelled on 19 June 2008 due to SAS not being able to sell for a price that it considered to "reflect the underlying value in Spanair." On 30 January 2009, however, a one euro bid from group of investors from Catalonia, led by the Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Inciatives, was later accepted, whereupon SAS became a minority shareholder.
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.
In 2009 the airline asked for public input on a new logo, with a winner being officially confirmed on 13 May 2009.
As of June 2009, Spanair began applying the new corporate identity to their aircraft.
Financially troubled during its last few years, Spanair ended operations on 27 January 2012, after Qatar Airways pulled out of talks to inject cash into the airline. Ana Pastor, the development minister of Spain, said that the Spanish government may fine the airline 9 million euros ($12 million USD) after breaking serious aviation security rules by shutting down without proper notice. As a result, SAS had a write-down of 1.7 billion Swedish kronor ($251 million U.S.). The carrier said all flights will remain suspended, but it did not say whether it planned to file for bankruptcy.
The last passenger flight was JK1326 from Trondheim to Las Palmas.
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