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Spantax Convair 990-30A Coronado, EC-CNH, c/n 30-1017 at Arlanda, Stockholm, Sweden
Spanish Air Taxi, later SPANTAX SA was founded on October 6, 1959 by
the Iberia seniorcaptain Rodolfo
Bay Wright and his
partner ex Iberia stewardess Marta Estades Saez who held 20% of the stock. Captain Rudi Bay passed away on 1st October 2000, 89 years old.
The airline had two Austers, two Airspeed Consuls, one
Airspeed Oxford and one Avro XIX. The airline got a
successful start due to the oil-fields in Sahara
transporting cargo and personnel. During the seccond
year, the fleet was extended by three Douglas DC-3. The airline was based at Gando Airport near Las Palmas and started to transport tourists around the island group and also to El Auin in Spanish Sahara.
Spantax Douglas DC-3, EC-AXS, c/n 1984 at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria 1974
Photo: G. Van Belleghem, Propeller Postcards.
Spantax Douglas DC-3, EC-AQE, c/n 25641 at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria 1964.
Flight BX502R/050 Las Palmas - El Auin - Las Palmas
Photo:Tony Edlind (carrying a SAS, Scandinavian Airlines System bag)
The company decided to change the name to SPANTAX S.A.
in 1963 due to the airline´s development within
the charterbusiness. In 1966 the airline had
a fleet of five Douglas DC-7, two DC-6 and thirteen
DC-3. Fokker F27´s were also similary used for a time when aquired in 1966,
but the whole fleet of five was subsequently leased and more recently
sold to Aviaco.
Spantax DC7 EC-BDL, c/n 45230 at Los Rodeos Airport,
Teneriffe
Photo: Bernhard Bauske 1975
During 1967 the company introduced the
Convair 990A Coronado and was an immediate success.
Gradually there were twelve Coronados in the fleet.
Further diversification of the Spantax fleet occured in 1969 when a Twin Otter
Srs 200 was acquired to operate (under contract to Iberia) a scheduled service
across the Mediterranean from Malaga to Melilla. A second Twin Otter was
subsequently acquired and these have been flying up to ten roundtrips a day
on the Trans-Mediterranean services.
Spantax DHC-6 Twin Otter EC-BPE, c/n 155 at Melilla Airport
Photo: Daniel Gonzalo Fischer. Copyright: Exclusivas CARMAR
Early this year, the company took a somewhat unusual step of ordering from
de Havilland Canada a single Dash- STOL airliner as a replacement for one
of the Twin Otters (which was being traded.in), while the other remained as a
back-up for the Dash-7. Spantax thus became the only the fifth airline and the
first in Europe to order Dash-7 which was delivered in June 1978. In advantage,
however, is that it could double the number of seats of the Twin Otter whilst
remaining capable of operating from the very short and often very hot fiels of
Melilla.
Transatlantic charters were begun by Spantax in 1972. As an adjunct but
an important one to its charter, Spantax provided scheduled inter-island
and feeder services in the Canary and Balearic Islands.
Two DC-9-14 (ex. Southern Airways) were purchased from McDonnell Douglas
and jouined the fleet in April 1974 and were used prinipally for local
scheduled flights.
Spantax DC-9-14 EC-CGZ, c/n 45699
Photo: AirNicon. Copyright Airline History Website
In 1985 Spantax decided to get a facelift for its fleet. The new blue and red cheat-line
made the aircrafts look very smart.
Spantax Convair 990-30A Coronado, EC-BZO, c/n 30-10-30 at Son San Juan, Mallorca, Spain
In keeping with their operation primarily on long-haul routes, the DC-8´s were
most utilised of the Spantax fleet, with an average annual utilisation of 2,670 hrs each.
Spantax DC-8-61 EC-DVB, c/n 46037
Photo: The WEB, Unknown
The policy was to expand slowely. One Douglas DC-10-
30CF was introduced to operate in the services as
well as Boeing 737, DC-8 and DC-9. The airline was seen
in many countries, USA, South America, Canada, Asia,
Scandinavia and Finland, alltogether in twentyone countries. During 1984 the
airline transported some 1,6 million passengers.
Spantax Boeing 737-2k5 EC-DTR, c/n 22598
Photo: The WEB, unknown
In 1986 both the pilots and maintenance crews went
on strike for two weekends in June. The airline was
forced to charter in aircraft from other companies to
cover their commitments during the strike. The staff
wanted a pay-rise and a guarantee for security of
employment. They felt that this could be achieved by
a sale of a share of the company. It was rumoured that
Frank Lorenzos Texas Air Group was interested in taking
a stake in the airline. The strike was resolved when
management agreed to the unions demands.
Spantax DC-10-30 EC-DUG, c/n 45576
Ptoto: Richard Watts
In April 1987 the company was sold in its entirety to
Luxembourg based Aviation Finance Group.They aimed to
revamp the service offered by the airline. Spantax
recently won the lead balloon on customer service
in a survey carried out by Holiday Which magazine.
The finances were also going to be revamped.
Spantax had a debt of $50million at this stage.
Aviation Finance Group proposed spending $40 million
on acquiring new aircraft for the airline.
In October 1987, the revamp of the fleet began with
the leasing in of two DC9-83 aircraft.These were to
replace the Boeing 737 and the CV990 in service.
A revised livery was also introduced with the
DC9-83s. Spantax was also in negotiations with China
Airlines about the purchase of two Boeing 767s.
However before the deal could be finalised, talks
aimed at refinancing the carrier broke down and
Spantax collapsed on March 29 1988. Some of the
815 workers of Spantax staged a blockade of Palma
airport to highlight their plight.
Dreams
Captain Rodolfo Bay Wrigh gave serious consideration to operate the Concorde
on the route from Nothern Scandinavia to the Canaries, the Concorde could
have been flown supersonically, over water, almost all the way, passing to
the west of Ireland. The idea was to lease Concorde time from one of the
present operators, to have become the first company to offer supersonic IT
packages, would indeed have been a major coup, but the economics just didn´t
quite come out right. About 30 more seats in the Concorde was needed for the
economics to look sensible stated Captin Bay in an iterview.
The dream
Ptoto: Spantax
Final
One aircraft of Captain Rodolfo Bay Wright and his partner Senora Marta Estades Saez masterpiece,
Spantax SA remains at Son San Juan Airport , Palma de Mallorca, the Convair
Coronado EC-BZO, now parked in the "Corrosion Corner"!
The final countdown for the Spantax Convair Coronado
990 fleet at Son San Juan airport, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Ptoto: The WEB
Sources:
José Manual Santaner, Keith DÁrcy, Caz Caswell, Javier Rodriguez and Daniel GonzaloFischer
Links:
New
Magazines containing SPANTAX SA articles
Prop.Fleet-list/ Updated 08-08-08
Jet.Fleet-list/Updated 08-08-08
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Last updated 2012-01-17
© Copyright 2001 by Tony Edlind
vings707@hotmail.com
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