Catair, the new low-cost airline created by Iberia, is reportedly expected to invest 120 million euros up to 2009 to become one of the biggest carriers in Spain. (7/3/2006)

As per the information available, the airline plans to commence operations in October with three planes working several national and international routes out of Barcelona. A spokesperson told media that the initial objective is to transport some 400,000 passengers in what will remain of 2006, operating a total of five planes in December. In 2007, Catair has forecast it will fly five million passengers with 14 planes, and will double those figures in 2008.

As per a media report, Catair is being set up by Iberia in an attempt to regain some of the market share it has been losing steadily over recent years to new Spanish low-cost airlines such as Spanair, Vueling and Air Europa and to British companies Easyjet and Ryanair. CAT (as in Catalunya)-Air will start operating from Barcelona's Prat Airport in October, the company has announced. Barcelona airport experienced a 23.1 percent increase in number of passengers this year, and CATair hopes to capitalise on increased traffic by operating flights linking Barcelona to some of Spain and Europe's major cities,?reported euroresidentes.com.

The company has announced that it plans to operate 10 new routes from Barcelona including the following destinations: Malaga, Seville, Amsterdam, Dublin, Geneva, Zurich, Prague, Lisbon, Oporto, Moscow. The company is currently involved in obtaining new aircraft via leasing, and hopes to confirm new routes and start taking bookings in August or September.

Recently, according to the press release published by Eurocontrol, it was shared that ten of the top 25 low-cost country-to-country flights involve the United Kingdom, but only one out of the top ten - flights between Spain and the UK - is dominated by low cost flights compared the traditional airlines.

Apart from Iberia, shareholders include Spain's biggest building and services firm, ACS, tour-operator Iberostar, private equity firm Quercus and Nefinsa, which operates regional airline Air Nostrum. Iberia will initially hold a 20 percent stake although it expects to raise this to 80 percent in the next three years, its been reported.