STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-New airline contract boosts Spain's Amadeus

Shares in Spanish travel technology company Amadeus rise to the top of the leaderboard for the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which several traders attribute to a new contract won by the group with Southwest Airlines.

Late on Monday, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV - news) and Amadeus announced they had entered into a joint contract whereby Amadeus' Altéa reservations solution would support the Southwest Airlines' domestic service.

The new contract lifts Amadeus' shares by 4.1 percent to 31.53 euros. The stock outperforms a 0.1 percent rise on the FTSEurofirst 300 index and a 0.6 percent gain on Spain's benchmark IBEX index.

Trading volumes in Amadeus' shares come in at around 36 percent of the stock's 3-month daily average - above those for the IBEX where volumes come in around 12 percent of the index's 3-month daily average.

French brokerage Natixis (Paris: FR0000120685 - news) also upgrades its recommendation on Amadeus to "buy" from "neutral", and sets a 36 euros price target on the stock.

Amadeus' rise on Tuesday pushes the stock to its highest level since late February, with the stock up by around 1.4 percent since the start of 2014.

Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net