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Spanair går til EU for å få innpass i nye Terminal 4 i MAD
MADRID, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Spanair, a Spanish subsidiary of Scandinavian airline SAS, reported a 4 percent rise in 2004 revenue on Thursday as the airline geared up for a fight over terminal space in Madrid's airport expansion.
Spanair's revenues came in at 870 million euros ($1.1 billion) for 2004, when it transported more than 8.5 million passengers and filled 64 percent of available seats on its 53 planes, Chairman Gonzalo Pascual Arias told reporters.
The chairman said the biggest problem facing Spanair was the allocation of all space at the new Terminal 4 at Madrid's Barajas airport to rival Iberia and its Oneworld partner airlines.
Spanish airport authority Aena ruled in November that when Terminal 4 opens in late 2005, Spanair and its Star Alliance partners would move to ageing Terminal 1, a decision the carrier called unfair.
"Terminal 1 is the most obsolete, the oldest, the one with the worst conditions," Pascual Arias told reporters.
The Oneworld alliance includes British Airways and American Airlines, while Star Alliance counts Lufthansa among its members.
Pascual Arias said Spanair would take its complaint against Aena to the European Union before the end of February, arguing that the decision impedes fair competition by favouring Iberia, already the dominant airline in the Spanish market.
Gunnar Reitan, deputy executive chairman of SAS, said the Scandinavian group supported Spanair in its legal action against the Barajas decision.
"The only thing we are asking for is fair treatment ... for the purpose of being a strong alternative to the biggest player in the market," Reitan said.
Despite a tough market hit by high oil prices, Spanair plans to expand, and Pascual Arias announced the imminent opening of four new routes connecting the northern regions of Asturias and Galicia with Madrid and Barcelona.
Spanair also said it would start operating in March code-share flights with state-owned TAP-Air Portugal on several routes in Spain and Portugal.
REUTERS
MADRID, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Spanair, a Spanish subsidiary of Scandinavian airline SAS, reported a 4 percent rise in 2004 revenue on Thursday as the airline geared up for a fight over terminal space in Madrid's airport expansion.
Spanair's revenues came in at 870 million euros ($1.1 billion) for 2004, when it transported more than 8.5 million passengers and filled 64 percent of available seats on its 53 planes, Chairman Gonzalo Pascual Arias told reporters.
The chairman said the biggest problem facing Spanair was the allocation of all space at the new Terminal 4 at Madrid's Barajas airport to rival Iberia and its Oneworld partner airlines.
Spanish airport authority Aena ruled in November that when Terminal 4 opens in late 2005, Spanair and its Star Alliance partners would move to ageing Terminal 1, a decision the carrier called unfair.
"Terminal 1 is the most obsolete, the oldest, the one with the worst conditions," Pascual Arias told reporters.
The Oneworld alliance includes British Airways and American Airlines, while Star Alliance counts Lufthansa among its members.
Pascual Arias said Spanair would take its complaint against Aena to the European Union before the end of February, arguing that the decision impedes fair competition by favouring Iberia, already the dominant airline in the Spanish market.
Gunnar Reitan, deputy executive chairman of SAS, said the Scandinavian group supported Spanair in its legal action against the Barajas decision.
"The only thing we are asking for is fair treatment ... for the purpose of being a strong alternative to the biggest player in the market," Reitan said.
Despite a tough market hit by high oil prices, Spanair plans to expand, and Pascual Arias announced the imminent opening of four new routes connecting the northern regions of Asturias and Galicia with Madrid and Barcelona.
Spanair also said it would start operating in March code-share flights with state-owned TAP-Air Portugal on several routes in Spain and Portugal.
REUTERS
