Madrid - Spain's second-biggest airline Spanair will cut its staff by about a quarter to 3,000 in reaction to rising fuel prices and the global airline crisis, the carrier said Friday.

Spanair will also cancel nine routes, reduce flights on some other routes and trim its fleet by 15 planes or 24 per cent. Operative bases will be reduced from seven to two, which will be located in Madrid and Barcelona.

The measures form part of an austerity plan aimed at saving the company 90 million euros (140 million dollars) in 2009.

Spanair and trade unions were due to begin negotiations about the job cuts in the coming week.

The routes to be eliminated include those linking Madrid with Vienna, Munich, Gerona, San Sebastian, Granada and Oviedo, Barcelona with Zurich, and Bilbao with Malaga and Jerez de la Frontera. (dpa)