The latest route, aircraft, ground and in flight service news and developments from Iberia on routes to and from London airports and at its hub in Madrid.
Iberia has operated from Terminal 5 for over ten years following its merger with BA. This was intended to facilitate connections to BA’s long haul network and have all BA & Iberia flights to Madrid in one terminal.
It’s not clear if this is temporary to make space to allow BA to have as many flights at Terminal 5 over the summer or a permanent move. Iberia flights are showing as staying at Terminal 3 during the winter season.
British Airways & Iberia aircraft (Image Credit: Iberia)
Iberia is to resume scheduled long-haul passenger flights from its hub at Madrid Barajas international airport in July.
Iberia will fly from Madrid to Chicago O’Hare, Havana, Miami, Montevideo, New York JFK, Panama City, San Jose Costa Rica, Santiago, Santo Domingo and Quito.
Frequencies will be very limited with most flights operating 1 -2 days a week. Outbound flights from Madrid will resume as follows:
Chicago O’Hare – One flight a week from Friday 3 July Havana – One flight a week from Wednesday 1 July Miami – Two flights a week on Wednesday and Sunday from 1 July Montevido – One flight a week from Sunday 5 July
New York JFK – Two flights a week on Sunday and Tuesday from 4 July Panama City – One flight a week from Thursday 2 July Santiago – Two flights a week on Tuesday and Saturday from 4 July
Santo Domingo – Three flights a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 2 July San Jose, Costa Rica – One flight a week from Friday 3 July Quito – Three flights a week on Monday, Thursday and Sunday from 2 July
One of the few reliable pleasures of short-haul travel is flying on a wide-body aircraft, instead of the workhorse of aviation in Europe, the Airbus A320 series.
Before Coronavirus brought aviation to halt, BA and Iberia operated wide-body aircraft daily between London Heathrow and Madrid, primarily for the benefit of shipping cargo. As did Finnair between London Heathrow and Helsinki.
As airlines reduced their passenger flight schedules to skeleton services, these flights were replaced with Airbus A320 series aircraft.
In a small sign of services returning to normal, Iberia will operate Airbus A330 and A350 aircraft between London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Madrid from Sunday 14 June 2020.
This is primarily for the benefit of cargo and travel restrictions for passengers arriving in both Spain and the UK remain.
Airbus A321XLR aircraft render (Image Credit: Airbus)
International Airlines Group has announced it has ordered 6 Airbus A321XLR aircraft for Aer Lingus and 8 aircraft for Iberia.
The first aircraft will be delivered from 2023. The group has also secured options for a further 14 aircraft, which could be used by any airline in the group.
This is a clear vote of confidence by IAG in the Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
IAG is now doubt attracted by is efficiency and commonality with the Airbus A320 series. It is noteworthy that IAG is keen to emphasise it will offer the same passenger comforts as existing wide body aircraft.
For both Aer Lingus and Iberia, IAG emphasise that the aircraft will be used to facilitate transatlantic expansion.
Iberia has taken another step in its renewal and modernisation by unveiling a new premium economy cabin on selected long-haul aircraft and routes from Madrid from the summer of 2017.
Iberia Express Airbus A320 (Image Credit: Iberia Express)
Iberia Express, the low cost short-haul sibling of Iberia, is to launch a three times weekly route from London Heathrow to Asturias in the north west of Spain from Sunday 24 April 2016.
Iberia Express will offer a two class, economy and business, service on this route.
At launch, flights depart from London Heathrow Terminal 5 on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and will be codeshared with British Airways.
This route launch adds to a growing number of Iberia routes at London Heathrow including Palma Mallorca, and Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Iberia also serves Madrid from London Heathrow and Gatwick.
Update January 2018: This route, which currently operates on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday is suspended from Saturday 24 March 2018. Iberia’s sister airline Vueling will continue to fly from London Gatwick to Asturias three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It is also possible to fly to Asturias from London Heathrow indirectly via Madrid.
International Airlines Group – Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia, Vueling
The parent company of British Airways and Iberia, International Airlines Group, has today announced that British Airways and Iberia are to launch a joint-business with LAN and TAM Airlines on flights between Europe and South America.
LAN and TAM Airlines, which have hubs in Chile and São Paulo are owned by LATAM Airlines Group and are due to merge their operations under a single brand, LATAM.
The launch of the joint business will be subject to regulatory approval which, if granted, will allow the four airlines to co-ordinate routes, schedules, pricing and marketing of flights between Europe and South America.
Passengers will also benefit from reciprocal recognition of airline frequent flyer benefits (though that already happens to an extent as all airlines are members of the Oneworld alliance) and easier access to codeshare flights on the airlines’ respective local & regional networks.
The joint business is likely to operate on a similar basis as the current joint-venture between British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines on flights between Europe & North America.
Currently, the four airlines operate up to 45 flights a day between Europe and South America.
LAN & TAM currently have a small presence on London which TAM operating a flight to São Paulo.
However, the launch of the joint-business could prompt British Airways to extend its presence in South America beyond São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Lima.
We would speculate that the launch of a direct route from London Heathrow to Santiago is a good possibility after the launch of the joint-business.
LAN and TAM have a much larger presence in Europe at Madrid airport and more new routes from Madrid to secondary cities in South America are also a possibility.
Regulatory approval for the joint business is expected to take 12-18 months and the joint business should launch in stages shortly after regulatory approval is granted.
Cutrently, it is not proposed that fellow members of International Airlines Group, Aer Lingus and Vueling, will join the joint-venture.
More signs of a turnaround at British Airways’ International Airlines Group sibling Iberia.
Iberia is to return to Puerto Rico from 15 May 2016.
The airline will fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico three times a week from Madrid, initially on a summer seasonal basis only.
Flights will be operated using Airbus A330-200 aircraft which Iberia is due to take delivery of later this year. The aircraft will have 19 business class seats and 269 economy class seats.
Iberia has also intimated recently that it is exploring a return to Johannesburg, another former long-haul route, as well as returning to Japan and opening new routes to China.
Flights are on sale now at Iberia.com and are well timed for connections to and from London.
Flight IB6301 Depart Madrid 12:25 – Arrive San Juan 14:55
Flight IB6300 Depart San Juan 16:35 – Arrive Madrid 06:25
