* Q1 results: Tuesday, May 12, before the market opens
* Operating loss seen at 117 million eur
* Analysts focus on trading conditions and BA merger plans
MADRID, May 7 (Reuters) - Spanish airline Iberia's first-quarter operating loss is seen widening fourfold year-on-year as the economic crisis hits passenger numbers.
A Reuters poll of eight analysts expects losses before interest and tax (EBIT) to balloon to 117.5 million euros, from a 28.3 million euro loss in the first three months of 2008, after traffic fell 9.5 percent in the first quarter amid the country's worst economic crisis since the 1936-39 Civil War.
On April 23, a union source told Reuters the airline had indicated it had lost over 100 million euros in January and February, and later that day the company said it was unlikely to make a profit this year and would propose scrapping its 2008 dividend.
Analysts took the statement as a profit warning after management had previously said it expected to make a profit this year, and on the back of the announcement Iberia shares have since fallen 13.7 percent.
The airline is reducing capacity by 4 percent this year -- a deeper cut than initially announced in January -- and plans to delay investments, freeze managers' salaries and temporarily lay off handling and ground staff.
As well as any update on whether trading pain is easing, analysts on a conference call at 0800 GMT on Tuesday will also be listening for any update on Iberia's planned merger with British Airways.
Here follows the consensus of analyst forecasts, expressed in millions of euros.
Q1 2009 Q1 2008 PERCENT CHANGE RANGE REVENUES 1,121 1,300 -14 1,075 to 1,174 EBITDAR 20.7 124 -83 -23 to 57.5 EBIT -117.5 -28 319 -82 to -162 NET PROFIT -97.4 -0.4 N/A -61 to -136
CONTRIBUTORS: Ahorro Corporacion, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Fortis, Renta 4, RBS, Venture Finanzas.
(Reporting by Ben Harding; editing by Simon Jessop)