Air Madrid Hits the Skies as new Spanish Airline

Air Madrid, the brand-new Spanish air carrier, got its license today to start operations as an airline. The announcement was made by Javier Castillo, director-general of Alada Travel Agency from the Air Madrid Group. Javier Taibo will be at the helm of the new air company. Air Madrid´s maiden flight is scheduled on May 30 between the Barajas International Airport in the Spanish capital and Costa Rica´s San Jose. The second flight will come a day later all the way to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, plus another trip to Brazil´s Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, June 1, and two others scheduled for Bogota and Cartagena de Indias, both in Colombia.

At the onset, Air Madrid will solely operate on a weekly basis and will be adding such destinations as Punta Cana (Dominica Republic) and Peru´s Lima. The company has picked Airbus A-330 jetliners of 298 seats, broken down in 267 seats in business class and 31 in first class. The carrier will start flying with just a couple of airliners, but more planes will be added along the way.

Air Madrid Director-General Javier Taibo believes the new company stands for a different, cheaper and top-flight choice that has not come into being to compete, but rather to snare new customers. "We´re very proud of the markets´ reaction and of the great expectations about Air Madrid as Spain´s first low-cost airline," Mr. Taibo went on to say.

In Mr. Taibo´s own words, Air Madrid sees itself as "an hundred-percent tourist company aimed at organizing our customers´ vacation plans in a different, economical and top-quality manner."