BY ORLANDO GÓMEZ BALADO (Special for Granma International)

                   THE directors of Spanair and Cubana Airlines announced a shared
                   code agreement as part of a joint project between the two
                   companies with the aim of increasing sales, experience and strategy
                   in order to break into each others’ traditional markets.

                   Luis Dans, general director of Spanair, told Granma International
                   that his company and Cubana have similar and complimentary
                   characteristics. Both are anxious to become regional leaders in their
                   particular specialty — the Caribbean and Central and South America –
                   with similar services and tariffs creating competitive and
                   commercially viable prices.

                   The director of Spanair explained that the company owns a fleet of
                   46 modern airplanes and makes some 300 flights daily between
                   Europe and Latin America. He commented that the agreement was
                   developing satisfactorily and has been producing positive results for
                   both countries since June 15 this year.

                   According to Eugenio Portales Prado, executive vice president of
                   Cubana Airlines, this shared flight code will expand air options
                   between Spain and Cuba. For example, the island can now count on
                   four flights from Spain daily with a total of 1,004 seats and three
                   Cubana flights per week from Madrid and Barcelona to Havana and
                   Santiago de Cuba, with a total of 930 seats, thereby facilitating
                   connections with the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. These
                   services include the advantage that passengers do not need to
                   reconfirm their reservations.

                   Portales Prado, Cubana vice president, confirmed that this
                   association with Spanair means an increase in sales and service
                   quality for both companies and the ability to offer a more
                   competitive product with room for considerable commercial
                   development and therefore an increase in air traffic between the
                   destinations covered by the two airlines.