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BA and Iberia have long operated a joint schedule between London Heathrow and Madrid with the two airlines codesharing on each other’s flights.
Normally, when two airlines codeshare on a flight there is a “prime” flight number for the airline operating the flight. There is also a codeshare flight number for the codeshare partner that is merely selling another airline’s flight.
Airlines apply distinctly separate flight number sequences for their own flights and codeshare flights. On most occasions, the rules of the operating airline apply regarding seat selection, luggage fees etc.
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BA & Iberia London Heathrow – Madrid Codeshare
Shortly after the merger of BA and Iberia in 2011, it was decided that Iberia would move into London Heathrow Terminal 5 to maximise connectivity between the two airline’s respective hubs.
However, there was a complication in that until then BA was the sole tenant of Terminal 5 and all of the systems and processes had been designed for BA’s operations.
A consequence of this was that flights from London Heathrow to Madrid operated by Iberia were treated by BA as its own flights and given a BA “prime” flight number.
This is now changing. The upshot of this is that the BA flight numbers for Iberia operated flights will change to a different sequence as follows:
New BA flight numbers for Iberia operated flights
BA flight numbers for Iberia operated flights will change from BA5** to BA70**.
BA510 > BA7069
BA512 > BA7053
BA514 > BA7055
BA516 > BA7059
BA518 > BA7067
BA520 > BA7061
BA522 > BA7065
BA524 > BA7051
Flights operated from Monday 1 April 2019 are now being sold under the new flight numbers. Flights before then are being progressively changed to the new flight numbers this autumn.
Another consequence of this is that “ownership” of the booking will transfer from BA to Iberia. Therefore, if you have paid for seating and baggage on these flights to BA, your fee will be refunded and you will have to repurchase these from Iberia. Also, free seat assignments may need to be allocated again through Iberia.
BA say that any existing requests for special meals or assistance will be honoured. However, given the importance of these to many passengers, it is worth reconfirming if appropriate.
If you have made, or are about to make, a booking it’s worth keeping a close eye using the Manage My Booking tool.
It should be emphasised that there are no changes to schedules nor operating airlines. BA operated flights from London Heathrow to Madrid are unaffected, as are all BA and Iberia operated flights from Madrid to London Heathrow.
Update October 2018
As part of these changes, Iberia operated flights from London Heathrow Terminal 5 are now handled separately from BA operated flights.
Passengers flying on Iberia operated flights need to use dedicated check-in desks in Zone E. This includes both economy and business class passengers, and any passengers eligible to use the BA premium check-in areas. Flights also board in accordance with Iberia’s operating procedures, which may differ slightly from BA in areas such as gate close times and boarding procedures.
