Spanair suspends Belgrade and Zagreb

Spanair ceases all operations

At midnight Spanair, Spain’s second largest airline, ceased operations after the carrier failed to find a buyer. On Friday, Qatar Airways had walked away from talks to take over the money losing airline after months of negotiations. The government of Spain's Catalonia region is Spanair's main shareholder, while Spanair's former owner, Scandinavian airline SAS, still owns an 11.9% stake. However, the Catalan government says it can no longer finance the airline.

Spanair has ceased all operations, suspending with it scheduled flights to Belgrade and its planned seasonal summer service to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. During this winter season, Spanair operated three weekly flights between Barcelona and Belgrade and on Friday morning announced it would increase the service to four times per week during the summer. Furthermore, the airline has also operated seasonal flights from Madrid to the Serbian capital in the past. Zagreb Airport will also be at a loss as Spanair operated seasonal flights to the Croatian capital from its Barcelona base. Last summer, Spanair also operated flights from Barcelona and Madrid to Dubrovnik. As Star Alliance partners, Spanair and Croatia Airlines code shared on each others' flights.

As a result, Jat Airways is now likely to resume seasonal summer flights to Girona while Iberia and Vueling Airlines will be operating flights from several Spanish cities to Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia Airlines should resume seasonal summer flights from Zagreb to Barcelona.