Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has found himself at the heart of a corruption scandal concerning a multi-million Euro airline bailout during the coronavirus pandemic. While Zapatero was not the Prime Minister at the time of the global health crisis, having only served in this role from 2004 to 2011, he is said to have used his influence to secure an illegal bailout package for Spanish carrier Plus Ultra.

Such support was commonplace during the coronavirus pandemic, with various airlines around the world provided with considerable economic relief in light of the sudden and unprecedented drop in passenger demand. However, the Plus Ultra bailout is now under scrutiny, with Zapatero accused of corruption.

The Bailout Was Always Controversial

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Back in March of 2021, with the world of commercial aviation still largely at a standstill a year after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Spanish government provided Plus Ultra with a €53 million ($61.6 million) bailout. As reported by The Olive Press at the time, this was considered to be a controversial course of action even back then, with Plus Ultra’s small market share, limited operations, and ties to Venezuela all raising red flags.

This prompted criticism from the opposition: Mario Cortés from the People’s Party said that there must be “something else going on” for such a small airline to have received so much money, with Plus Ultra potentially even being used as a bargaining chip with Venezuela. Now, Al Jazeera reports that former Spanish PM Zapatero is under investigation for influence peddling relating to the bailout, with Juanma Moreno from the People’s Party saying:

“There has never been a serious investigation process, much less an indictment of a former president. This is something unprecedented and will shake up the government.​​​​​​”

In Hot Water

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According to reporting by The Olive Press, there are various facets at play when it comes to the investigation into Zapatero’s role in the Plus Ultra bailout. It is thought that, in exchange for ties to Venezuelan funds and even illegal commissions, he may have thrown his weight around unduly to secure the bailout.

With this in mind, he has been summoned by the National Court of Spain to testify on the case next month. This will allow him to put his side of the story across, although, with searches of premises including Zapatero’s Madrid office currently ongoing, he may yet find himself faced with a mountain of evidence. In any case, the investigation has put the wind in the sails of the People’s Party, and its attacks on current PM Pedro Sanchez.

Alongside the aforementioned charge of influence peddling, Zapatero has also been accused of document forgery in relation to the bailout case surrounding Plus Ultra, as well as the allegation of belonging to a criminal organization. Al Jazeera notes that the ongoing investigation will look to ascertain whether or not the aid was approved in the correct manner, and the extent to which it was the subject of improper influence and/or lobbying.

The Current State Of Plus Ultra

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In recent years, Plus Ultra was known for being one of Europe’s last remaining operators of the Airbus A340. Indeed, these widebody quadjets were used on a wide range of notable charter flights, such as ferrying Manchester City fans to Istanbul for the UEFA Champions League Final back in June of 2023. However, these aircraft no longer serve Plus Ultra, with Planespotters.net showing that its current fleet consists entirely of Airbus A330 jets.

All in all, Plus Ultra currently has seven of these European twin-engine widebody commercial aircraft at its disposal: five Airbus A330-200s aged 19 years old on average, and two A330-300s with a mean age of 17.1 years old. In terms of where these twinjets fly, data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that, this month, they will link Madrid and Tenerife with Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Cartagena, and Lima.