Iberia adds flights and capacity on routes affected by Spanair cease of operations

The airline is increasing seat supply between Madrid and Barcelona, Bilbao, La Coruña, the Balearics Islands and the Canary Islands, as well as Copenhagen.

Following last week's cease of operations by Spanair, Iberia is increasing its supply of flights and/or seats on several of the routes on which it had coincided with the carrier:

Madrid-Barcelona: Iberia has added three daily flights, which will be expanded to four in the summer season for a daily total of nearly 70.
Madrid-Bilbao: An increase in seat supply of up to 31% in the busiest months, with one extra daily flight and larger aircraft at peak travel times. For now Iberia will operate 11 daily return flights, from 06:55 h. until 21:45 h., with good connections to all other Iberia destinations.
Madrid-La Coruña: Up to 27% more seats starting in March, on three daily return flights, two of them using larger aircraft. The first flight departs at 06:45 – and the last takes off at 21:20 h., offering good connections to Iberia destinations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.
Madrid-Canary Islands: Flights to the main Canary Islands grow by 20%: Iberia has scheduled one additional flihgt on the Madrid-Gran Canaria and Madrid-Tenerife routes. As of March 25 it will increase capacity to the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Madrid-Balearic Islands: In the high summer season Iberia will operate up to five daily return flights to Palma de Majorca, two to Ibiza, and one to Minorca.
Madrid-Copenhagen: Iberia will use larger aircraft to increase seat supply on this route.

Passengers affected by Spanair’s cease of operations have now until midnight on Friday, February 3, to purchase Iberia tickets to Spanish mainland and island destination with special fares for travel through May 30.

The fares range from 60 to 90 euros (plus airport taxes), depending on the destination.

Iberia, Madrid, January 30, 2012

Iberia continues to grow strongly in Panama, and today launches a fifth weekly flight between Madrid and Panama City. The Spanish airline now reaches the Panamanian capital on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Thanks to its flights to other cities in the region and connections with local airlines, Iberia can book passengers to and from Panama City on any day of the week.

On some of the flights Iberia operates the largest aircraft in its fleet, the Airbus 340/600, with 100 seats more than the A340/300s normally used on the route.

Thus in 2012 Iberia will offer a record total of 145,000 seats on the Panama route, a 33% increase from last year, which also saw a large rise in seat supply from the 77,000 of 2010.

Demand on the route rose by 35% in 2011 to some 90,000 passengers, and the passenger load factor exceeded 80%.

Iberia's Central America Manager Maria Esther Fernández noted that “no other Iberia route grew as strongly as Madrid-Panama, meeting our highest expectations”. She added that "our aim is to continue to grow, and as soon as possible to offer flights every day which, along with the improvements to both tourist and business class seating sections, will enable Iberia to offer a product that is hard to beat."

Two-third of passengers go to other cities

Iberia's market share on the Spain-Panama route climbed to 69% in 2011, and its share of all Europe-Panama passenger traffic came to 34%. For Iberia's premium Business Plus class the figures were even better, at 87% and 43%, respectively.

Most passengers on the Panama route fly to or from other cities in Spain, Europe, or the Middle East. Only 33% begin and/or end their journeys in Madrid, while 23% fly to or from the other 31 Spanish cities served by Iberia, and 44% fly to/from one of the 54 Iberia destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The other Spanish cities supplying the most traffic to the route are Barcelona, followed by Vigo, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela, and Bilbao. Outside of Spain, most of the Panama-bound traffic flies to or from Italy, France, Israel, and Germany.

Iberia began to fly to Panama on April 7, 1971 using a DC-8 that covered the Madrid-Santo Domingo-Panama-Guatemala route. Now it operates five non-stop Madrid-Panama City flight per week in Airbus A-340s, in which the Business Plus section give passengers 220 cm. of space between rows and seats that unfold into completely flat beds.

Iberia, Madrid, January 16, 2012

Iberia customers can book flights to Tanzania’s largest city from today

Tanzania will be added to Iberia's flight offering from today, when its code will be included in British Airways flights to Dar Es Salaam. This new destination under code share is a consequence of the merger of Iberia and British Airways on January 24th 2011.

Since then, Iberia’s code has been added to a significant number of British Airways destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Iberia customers can now book flights to Accra, Lusaka, Cape Town and Johannesburg, in Africa; Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain, Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh, in the Middle East; Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, in India; and Sydney in Australia.

Meanwhile, British Airways customers can book more destinations in Latin America, as it has added its code to Iberia flights to San José, Costa Rica, Panama City, Guatemala, San Salvador, Santiago, Caracas, Montevideo and Santo Domingo.

Passengers are also enjoying better connections and timetables, since the two airlines are coordinating their services. More and more flights operated by each airline are progressively becoming available on the other's web site and telephone reservations lines.

It is also possible to combine fares of the two airlines, and to choose the most suitable. Other advantages to passengers include access to more than 120 VIP lounges in airports around the world. The merger also makes Iberia and British Airways stronger and more competitive, enabling them to offer better services to customers.

Iberia, Madrid, November 28, 2011

The authorities of the Russian Federation have granted LOT Polish Airlines the consent necessary in order to fly over Siberia. The negotiations, which were carried out on behalf of the Polish state by the Ministry of Infrastructure, concluded beneficially for the Polish carrier.

Confirmation that LOT will be able to fly in Russian airspace is one of the key solutions as regards the Polish airline’s preparations to expand into the Far East and is of particular significance in the light of LOT’s plans to launch a route to Beijing in 2012. The possibility of flying over Siberia opens up the shortest air corridor, which will have an impact on a number of factors, including savings in terms of both fuel consumption and flight duration.

LOT Polish Airlines is currently awaiting the decision of the relevant authorities in China in respect of take-off and landing slots at Beijing airport. Flights to the Chinese capital will be introduced into the airline’s reservation system once the slots have been granted. The route will be flown by the LOT fleet of Boeing 767s.

Obtaining consent to fly in Russian territory is also crucial in terms of LOT’s other flights to and from the Federation’s airports. Mention should be made of the fact that LOT has also received favourable landing and take-off times for flights to and from Moscow, enabling the company to introduce highly convenient flight times for the 2011/2012 winter season. In practice, this will mean a change from the six night flights provided by the airline to date, which will be superseded by three early morning flights and three during the course of the day.

LOT, Warsaw, 16th November 2011

As of November it operates 10 return flights per week instead of the previous seven, and plans to add an 11th in April. In 2012 Iberia will offer some 350,000 seats on the route

Iberia continues to grow in Miami. At the beginning of November it added three weekly Madrid-Miami return flights for a total of 10 per week, which will be raised to 11 next April.

The three extra flights add 100,000 seats per year, for a 2012 total offer of 345,000 seats on the rout, a 37% increase over the 2011 total.

The addition flight will help consolidate Iberia's position in the US market, where it has grown steadily in recent years. In 2011 the airline is offering more than a million seats between Europe and the United States, up 13% from the preceding year.

Iberia flies to five US cities. In addition to Miami, it serves New York with two daily flights, Chicago with one, and Boston and Los Angeles with three flights per week. In addition it operates three weekly return Barcelona-Miami flights.

Iberia launched its first US flight in 1954 with a Madrid-New York route. Now it uses Airbus A-340s with the recently upgraded Business Plus section, featuring 220 cm of personal space, seats that unfold into totally flat beds, and gourmet dining designed by leading Spanish chefs Paco Roncero, Ramón Freixá, Toño Pérez, and Dani García. Last March Iberia along with its partners American Airlines and British Airways opened a 6,000 sq.ft. VIP lounge in Miami airport, with a capacity for 120 people.

Iberia, Madrid, November 11, 2011