Spanair passengers face shutdown panic

Spanair is in talks with other airlines to reassign its passengers to other flights in the event of a shutdown, after talks with Qatar Airways were broken off.

A company spokesman said that a board meeting was underway Friday afternoon to decide on the future of the fifth-largest Spanish airline in terms of passenger volume last year. Aena, the airport authority, is working with the Public Works Ministry "to guarantee that citizens' rights are upheld." The news agency Efe reported that Spanair was drafting a suspension-of-activity request to Civil Aviation, although it had not yet been filed.

The cash-strapped airline ended 2010 with losses of 115 million euros. The Catalan government, which has had significant direct and indirect participation in Spanair since 2009, seems unwilling to keep pumping money into it.