The winter season has just begun for the airline industry, and at Iberia it will be defined by the return to all its pre-pandemic activity levels.
The winter season runs from 29 October to 25 March and, in the last quarter of 2022, Iberia will operate at 95% of its 2019 capacity, while in the first quarter of 2023, thanks to the arrival of new aircraft, it will register a capacity increase of 5 percentage points compared with 2019, which, in the overall season, will translate into an offer that matches the network of flights and frequencies it offered before the pandemic.
Iberia reached the milestone of re-establishing its entire network of flights and destinations in Latin America, while it expands its routes in the United States with the route to Dallas, and extends several routes in its short- and medium-haul network in Spain and Europe. The breakdown by market is shown below:
Rio de Janeiro, Caracas and Mexico, Leading Players in Latin America
This weekend Iberia recovered its full network in Latin America with direct flights to Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, the last two remaining destinations after the pandemic, with three weekly frequencies on each of these routes.
In Mexico, Iberia increased its activity and offers the largest schedule ever in this market, with three daily flights. Bogotá routes grow from 10 to 14 weekly frequencies, and, in Buenos Aires, Iberia consolidates two daily flights this season.
The airline maintains its one daily flight to Santiago de Chile, Lima, Sao Paulo, and Santo Domingo, and in San José de Costa Rica it also consolidates seven weekly frequencies.
Montevideo will also have a daily flight from January. There will be six weekly flights to Panama, and four to Havana and Puerto Rico.
The other most important destinations in this market are the Guatemala-El Salvador route, which also recovers seven flights, Quito with six, and Guayaquil with another three, making it a total of nine flights to Ecuador.
All in all, Iberia will operate nearly 260 weekly flights to the region this winter -most of them daily- linking Europe with 18 destinations in 16 Latin American countries.
15% More Capacity in the United States
The United States continues to gain prominence in Iberia's network. For the coming winter months, the airline has increased its capacity up to 589,000 seats, a 15% increase from 2019, with around 2,000 flights, 21% more than in the pre-pandemic winter.
Iberia is also adding new destinations in the region, as it will maintain its flights to Dallas during the winter season. Although they were initially launched to operate only in summer, they will continue during the winter with three weekly frequencies.
Iberia is also increasing its presence in several US destinations compared to last winter, when travel restrictions were lifted in November. In Miami, it will increase from 10 to 14 weekly frequencies -two daily flights- and in New York, from 10 to 13 weekly frequencies, which will be increased to 14 in March.
Iberia's programme in the United States is complemented by five flights a week to Chicago and three to Boston and Los Angeles.
Iberia's other big US news is its December move to T8 at JFK with its American Airlines and British Airways partners. The new terminal offers a more seamless connecting experience with other airlines, and Premium customers will have access to new lounges to enjoy a more comfortable journey.
Commitment to the Corporate Segment in Spain
In its short- and medium-haul network, Iberia group will deploy more capacity than in the 2019 winter season, increasing its presence in leisure and corporate destinations.
In Spain, Iberia strengthens its Air Shuttle Service, and recovers all the frequencies operated before the pandemic, with up to 86 weekly frequencies between Madrid and Barcelona. Customers may choose from up to 15 daily flights each way, with Wednesdays being the busiest day. This means that the Spanish airline will offer nearly 700,000 seats, slightly more than in 2019, mainly because the route will be operated by greater-capacity Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Record Capacity in Rome and Paris
In Europe, Iberia will concentrate its efforts on Italy. In Rome, it will operate five extra weekly frequencies, reaching 37 weekly flights and up to six daily flights from Friday to Sunday, which is the highest-ever number of flights to and from the city. Iberia is also growing in Milan with 7% more seats.
A record number of flights for Paris too, where Iberia and Iberia Express scheduled 60 weekly frequencies: 46 between Madrid and Orly, operated by Iberia, and another 14 operated by Iberia Express between Madrid and Charles de Gaulle.
In Portugal, Iberia is consolidating its presence in Lisbon with up to 40 weekly flights (six daily flights), while in Oporto it is increasing from three to four daily flights compared to last winter and will offer its route to Funchal throughout the winter, with three weekly frequencies.
And in Switzerland, Iberia increases its capacity with three additional flights to Geneva, bringing the total to 33 weekly flights.
New Destinations in Africa
In Morocco, Iberia is back to its three destinations: Casablanca, with nine weekly flights, Marrakech, with ten, and Tangier, with another five weekly flights.
In addition, in the last month Iberia has added two more destinations to its African operations: Luanda (Angola), thanks to a codeshare agreement with TAAG, with three weekly flights and, for the first time in its history, it will operate charter flights to Amman (Jordan) which it will combine with Cairo (Egypt).
