Spanair shuts down

Barcelona-based Spanair suspended its operations on Jan. 28, cancelling all of its close to 650 flights and, according to reports, stranding close to 20,000 passengers. In a statement on its web site, the carrier said that it “is finalizing an agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to facilitate the refund of purchased but not yet flown tickets of Spanair. This agreement will let the travel agencies refund the complete price to those passengers that paid the ticket in a travel agency by bank transfer or cash.” The carrier went on to say that “all other passengers who bought their tickets by credit card directly at http://www.spanair.com or in a travel agency, they will need enquire for refund options with their card issuer.” Spanair said that “in the following days we will inform the travel agencies about the procedure to follow.” And it noted that in all other cases to claim the refund of your ticket, contact Spanair sales offices; AENA help desks located in airports in Spain; Airport Tourism information offices in Spain; or the Catalan consumer agency. As for alternative flight options, Spanair said that it was in contact with a number of other airlines, including Vueling, Iberia & Air Europa, in an effort to find “alternative solutions, providing special fares to those affected passengers that want to fly in the next few days. You will find more information at the respective web sites of those airlines.” “If you have purchased a ticket with Spanair that is operated by another airline member of Star Alliance, we can not guarantee that your flight is protected. However for clarification we suggest you contact the operating airline. Spanair considers that all these measures will cover most of the claims presented,” the statement concluded.