10/06/1959: Spanish Charter Carrier Spantax Is Founded

On October 6, 1959, Spanish charter airline Spantax (BX) was founded by Rodolfo Bay and Marta Estades. Bay was an Iberia (IB) Pilot, while Estades, a former Flight Attendant with the same airline, became Spantax's vice president.

The carrier began by transporting passengers and supplies between the Canary Islands and the then-Spanish Sahara. Its early customers included oil companies carrying out exploration work. Holiday flying followed, and in 1962 Spantax expanded to mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands.

Authorization to operate inclusive-tour charters that year allowed the airline to contract with travel agencies for European flights. Spantax grew with the holiday market, carrying tourists to Spain as its fleet expanded.

The airline entered the jet age in February 1967, when its first Convair CV-990 joined the fleet. The aircraft came from American Airlines (AA). Spantax acquired or leased with purchase rights a further 13 Coronados through 1975, bringing its historical total to 14.

Widebody Expansion and Closure

Douglas DC-8s joined the fleet in 1973 for long-haul flying. In October 1978, Spantax acquired its first McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 as it expanded its charter business between Spain and the United States.

That expansion brought financial pressures. In his study of the airline, economic historian Javier Vidal Olivares identifies the Coronado's high fuel consumption and the cost of building the fleet as contributors to Spantax's debt problems.

By March 1988, efforts to secure new investment had failed. Spantax stopped flying on March 29. Reporting the next day, El País said the carrier could not fund its insurance renewal and that a formal suspension-of-payments or bankruptcy declaration was still to follow.

Airways later examined the preservation of one of Spantax's Coronados in Palma, an aircraft from the fleet that had carried holidaymakers to Spain.

Featured image: Spantax added the Boeing 737-200 to the fleet in 1983.