Spantax SA (BX)

Spantax S.A.

Welcome to former Spantax S.A. Convair 990-30A Coronado page !

Foto: Lars Söderström

Updated
1st January 2024

"It was then . . . ."when I at the first time boarded a Spantax DC-3 flight to El Aauin in 1964.

SPANTAX SA HISTORY

Spanish Air Taxi Líneas Aéreas S.A. was founded on 6 October 1959 by ex-Iberia pilot Rodolfo Bay Wright and ex-Iberia flight attendant Marta Estades Sáez. The airline was based at Gran Canaria Airport in the Canary Islands, and began operations flying geologists and technicians who were searching for oil in the Sahara and Spanish West Africa.

Initial destinations included El Farsia, Gaada, Itguy, Mardesiat, Tindouf, Dakhla, Lagouira and El Aaiún. In 1959 the fleet comprised three Airspeed Consuls, two Airspeed Oxfords, one Auster and a single Avro Anson. A Douglas DC-3 was added to the fleet in 1960.

Spantax Douglas DC-3 EC-BEG msn 4301 (1966-1970) Morocco 1968
Photo: Jose Antonio Ruiz

At the end of 1960, the airline purchased two DC-3s from Swissair and these were placed into service from May 1961 operating tourist flights within the Canary Islands, and were joined by a Piper Apache for short flights. The fleet was joined in 1962 by a Beechcraft Model 18 executive aircraft, and a Bristol 170 which was leased from Iberia. The Bristol was returned to Iberia the following year, and four Douglas DC-4s were acquired; the first in the Belgian Congo and the other three from Aviaco.

Spantax DC7C "Seven Seas" EC-BBT msn 45553 (1965-1978) stored next to El Berriel airfield)
Photo: Antonio Camarasa

Ex Spantax SA EC-BTT from LPA to El Berriel on water for storing 1979.

Spantax DC7C "Seven Seas" EC-BBT msn 45553 (stored El Berriel, Gran Canaria 2015)
Photo: AirTeamImages

The pressurised long range Douglas DC-7C entered service with the airline in April 1963, and Spantax would eventually go on to operate eight of the aircraft which served destinations in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Between June 1963 and in September 1967 the airline also acquired an additional four DC-4s and also took delivery in May 1965 it two Douglas DC-6s.

Spantax DC-4 EC-ACD msn 42951 (1962-1973) Las Palmas 1968
Photo: Tony Edlind collection

Spantax DC-6B EC-BKK msn 44434 (1965-1970), La Palma 1975
Photo: AirTeamImages

Spantax DHC-27 Beaver EC-DCB msn 3(1962-1963) Malaga- Melilla route
Photo: Antonio Camarasa Archivo

Spantax Fokker F-27 EC-BRN msn 1009 (1969-1972) Palma de Mallorca 1970
Photo: Jurgen Lutz

On 7 December 1965, the airline suffered its first crash, when a DC-3 EC-ARZ on a charter flight from Los Rodeos Tenerife to Gran Canaria when aircraft entered spin a few minutes after takeoff and crashed, killing 28 passengers and 4 crew.

After receiving approval from the Spanish authorities to operate passenger charter flights, the airline moved its headquarters from Gran Canaria to Palma de Mallorca. The Balearic base was chosen due to the role that Mallorca had taken in the development of tourism in Spain, allowing the airline to gain prestige in the European market.

Jet age

Spantax Convair 990 Coronado EC-CNF msn 8 (1975-1982), Las Palmas 1977
Photo: Willi Pokall

Spantax Convair 990 Coronado cabin
Photo: Spantax Archivo

Spantax Convair 990 Coronado (1967-1983) msn 23 Arlanda Stockholm 1969
Photo: Lars Söderström

The airline entered the jet age when in February and May 1967 two Convair 990 four engine jetliners joined the fleet after being purchased second hand from American Airlines. Between 1968 and 1972, an additional eight Convair 990s would join the fleet; two of which were leased to Iberia Airlines between 1967 and 1969 whilst that airline experienced delays in the delivery of its own Douglas DC-8s.

Iberia Convair 990 Coronado EC-BJG msn 22 LHR 1968
Photo: AirTeam/Images

The airline acquired a further four Convairs from Swissair in April, May and June 1975,and the airline would become the world's largest operator of the type. The last one was retired in the mid 1980s.

Requiring an aircraft with intercontinental range, Spantax purchased two stretched Douglas DC-8-61CFs from Trans Caribbean Airways in February 1973, and would go on to operate an additional four of the type.

Spantax Douglas DC-8-61CF EC-CCG msn 45898 (1973-1984) Dublin 1982
Photo: Derek Gaynor

Spantax Douglas DC-9-14 EC-CGY msn 45699
Photo: PPruNe Forum

Two DC-9-14s were acquired from Southern Airways in April 1974 in order to meet demand on charter flights on domestic and European routes. In October 1978 the airline put into service its first wide-body aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, and put it into service on charter routes to the United States. By 1980 the airline employed 1,168 people, carried 2,017,000 passengers and had revenues of 9.953 billion pesetas.

Spantax Douglas DC-10-30 EC-DEG msn 4692 (1978-1982)
Photo: Flickr

In 1983, Spantax became the first Spanish airline to fly to Japan via the polar route, with a stop in Anchorage, and in the same year Boeing 737-200s began to be added to the fleet, to replace the DC-9s. New flights from Palma de Mallorca to Turku, Kuopio, Tampere and Vaasa in Finland were begun with the 737s in 1984, and in the August 1984 the airline undertook charter flights to Venezuela with the DC-10s in conjunction with Iberia and VIASA.

Demise

In 1985 Spantax decided to get a facelift for its fleet. The new blue and red cheat-line made the aircraft look very smart, "The state of the art".

SPANTAX Douglas DC-9-14, EC-DIR cn 45698, at Bologna Intl. Airport (BLQ/LIPE), Italy.
Photo: Aldo Bidini.

SPANTAX Convair 990 Coronado EC-BQQ msn 34 (1969-1986) Arlanda Stockolm
Photo:

SPANTAX Douglas DC-8-61CF EC-EAM msn 45908
Photo: Johan Ljungdahl

The first aircraft the DC-9 EC-DIR was the first aircraft to wear the new livery. Later SPANTAX introduced a new type of aircraft into service, the Boeing 737-200. They were the first airline to operate the Boeing 737-200 in Spain. This was the last year that SPANTAX declared a profit.

SPANTAX Boeing 737-200 EC-DYZ msn 22703 Palma de Mallorca 1987
Photo: Reinhard Zinabold

By the mid-1980s, competition in the charter airline market in Europe was intense, and in conjunction with spiralling fuel prices, the fortunes of the airline took a turn. Having an outdated fleet, the company was forced to lease in 737s from SABENA, and two Boeing 747s and a DC-10 from Malaysian Airline System.

In 1987, plagued by financial troubles and labour strikes, Spantax was sold to the Aviation Finance Group, based in Luxembourg. The new owners had committed capital of 3 billion pesetas, and an investment of 4 billion pesetas. Debts to the Spanish authorities totaling 13 billion pesetas were reorganised for payment over a twenty five-year period, and a fleet renewal program would have seen the airline operating fifteen aircraft by 1993.

Attempts to revamp and refinance the airline, renew its fleet with McDonnell Douglas MD-83s, and negotiate with China Airlines for acquisition of Boeing 767s were all unsuccessful. After the Kuwait Investment Authority withdrew from a planned offer to purchase the airline, Spantax ceased all operations on 29 March 1988, leaving some 7,000 passengers around Europe stranded.

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 Captain Bay in an iterview.

The dream

Photo: 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"!

Spantax SA Convair 990 Coronado stuck at Son san Juan, Palma airport undergoing restoration.

The final countdown for the SPANTAX Convair Coronado 990 fleet at Son San Juan airport, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Photo: The WEB

Sources:

José Manual Santaner, Keith DÁrcy, Caz Caswell, Javier Rodriguez, Daniel GonzaloFischer, Johan
Ljungdahl and Salvemos el Convair Coronado de Spantax and Wikipedia

Links: