The cessation of flights by Spanair which intends to file for bankruptcy has been described as “very bad news” for the Canary Islands.

Tourism chiefs hope other airlines will come forward to fill the significant gap left by the shock announcement.

Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism José Manuel Soria said it was a great disappointment as Spanair had helped to improve the archipelago’s connection with Spain and the rest of the world over the years. It also brought into question the role of government in private enterprise.

Prime Minister Paulino Rivero said if other companies did not step in, the Canary Islands would be “even more isolated”. 

 

Spanair shock hits Canaries and Spain

 

The closure of Spanair has sent shockwaves throughout the tourism industry and the repercussions will be felt for many months to come.

Unions have revealed that they had been pressing the company to draw up an action plan “for years” because of concerns over its viability.

Even so, the sudden cessation of flights on Friday, January 27th was a body blow to the Canary Islands, passengers and the workforce. It is not known exactly how many passengers with future tickets have been affected but a figure of at least 500,000 has been quoted in the Spanish press.

In the first seven days, 83,006 passengers were affected, together with 878 flights.

The Government said it had done everything within its power to keep the airline afloat but Spanair took the decision to file for bankruptcy after a 150 million 49% share deal with Qatar fell through.

Spanair says it will refund money to those who paid for their tickets by bank transfer, cash or to travel agents. Those who paid with credit cards must go to their company or agency.

It has also indicated that it would try to pay employees’ outstanding wages by the end of January and is said to have paid workers 1,000 euros to cover the gap so far.

About 2,000 jobs have been lost, 160 of them in the Canary Islands, and another 2,000 were indirectly connected to its operations. Spanair was said to be facing debts of around 350 million euros. Its 27 aircraft were leased.

On Saturday, January 28th alone, some 1,400 passengers were affected in the archipelago and there were reports of people paying up to 400 euros for alternative flights. More than 22,000 passengers were affected across Spain at the weekend. Dozens of complaints were lodged at the Tenerife airports. Later,  Vueling, Iberia and Air Europa stepped in to offer reduced rates to stranded passengers.

Spanair also now faces an infringement procedure which could lead to a nine million euro fine for “unilateral and abrupt suspension” of its operations brought under air safety laws.

The cessation of Spanair affects 156 weekly flights to the island. Last year, Spanish newspapers are reporting, Spanair transported 600,000 passengers from the mainland to the islands representing 16.5% of the national domestic total.

The Spanair website is on www.spanair.com and the company has provided toll-free number of 902 13 14 15.