Iberia recovers all its pre-pandemic capacity in the winter season

• In the first quarter of 2023, thanks to the arrival of new aircraft, Iberia will experience growth to 105 percent of its 2019 capacity
• With the resumption of flights to Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, Iberia now offers its entire network of destinations in Latin America and increases its operation with Mexico to three daily flights
• In the US, Iberia has deployed 15 percent more capacity compared to 2019, maintains the route to Dallas throughout the year, and in December it will move to T8 at JFK airport in New York
• In Europe, the growth in Italy (Rome and Milan), France (Paris), Switzerland (Geneva) and Portugal stands out, where the route to Funchal will operate all winter.
• In Spain, Iberia strengthens the corporate segment by betting, mainly, on the Air Shuttle with up to 86 weekly frequencies
• And in Africa, Iberia will offer direct flights to Luanda in codeshare with TAAG and, for the first time, will operate charter flights to Jordan

The winter season has just started for the air sector, which in Iberia will be marked by the recovery of all its pre-pandemic capacity.

Specifically, the season runs from October 29 to March 25 and, in this last quarter of 2022, Iberia will operate 95 percent of its capacity. Already in the first quarter of 2023 and thanks to the arrival of new aircraft, Iberia will experience growth to 105 percent of its 2019 capacity which, in the season as a whole, will translate into an offer that already matches the network of flights and frequencies that it offered before the pandemic.

As highlights, Iberia has already reestablished its entire network of flights and destinations in Latin America, is growing in the United States with the route to Dallas, and will carry out greater deployment on several routes of its short and medium-haul network in Spain and Europe. This is the detail by markets:

Rio de Janeiro, Caracas and Mexico, protagonists in Latin America

This weekend Iberia has already recovered one hundred percent of its network in Latin America with direct flights to Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, the last two destinations that were pending after the pandemic, and with three weekly frequencies in each of the routes.

In Mexico, it is also growing and will be the market with the greatest offer with three daily flights, together with Bogotá -which grows from 10 to 14 weekly frequencies-, and Buenos Aires where Iberia consolidates the two daily flights this season.

In Santiago de Chile, Lima, Sao Paulo and Santo Domingo the daily flight will be maintained, as in San José de Costa Rica which, as of December, consolidates the seven weekly frequencies.

Montevideo will also have a daily flight starting in January, Panama with six weekly flights; and Havana and Puerto Rico with four weekly frequencies.

The other most relevant destinations in this market are: the Guatemala-El Salvador route, which also recovers seven flights, Quito with six and Guayaquil with another three, a total of nine flights with Ecuador.

All in all, this winter Iberia will add nearly 260 weekly flights to the region -mostly daily- linking Europe with 18 destinations in 16 Latin American countries

15 percent more capacity in the United States

The United States continues to gain prominence in the Iberia network and, for the coming winter months, has increased its capacity compared to 2019. Specifically, it has planned an offer of 589,000 seats, which represents an increase of 15 percent compared to 2019 , and around 2,000 flights, 21 percent more than in the pre-pandemic winter.

Likewise, Iberia incorporates novelties in terms of destinations and will maintain flights to Dallas during the winter season. Although they were initially launched to operate only in the summer, they will continue during the winter with three weekly frequencies.

In addition to this, Iberia increases its presence in several US destinations compared to last winter, when restrictions on travel from Europe were not lifted until November. In Miami, it will go from 10 to 14 weekly frequencies -two daily flights- and in New York, from 10 to 13 weekly frequencies, which will increase to 14 already in the month of March.

Iberia’s programme in the US is complemented by three weekly flights to Boston, another three to Los Angeles and another five weekly flights to Chicago.

The other big news for Iberia in the US will be in December, when it will move to T8 at New York JFK airport, together with its partners American Airlines and British Airways. The new terminal offers a much more fluid connection experience with other companies, and Premium customers will have access to new lounges to enjoy a more comfortable journey.

Commitment to the corporate segment in Spain

In the short- and medium-haul network, the Iberia group will deploy greater capacity as of the winter of 2019, increasing its presence both in destinations with more corporate traffic and in vacation destinations.

In Spain, Iberia strengthens its position in the Air Bridge and recovers all the frequencies that it operated on before the pandemic. It will offer up to 86 weekly flights between Madrid and Barcelona, ??and customers will have up to 15 daily flights in each direction, with Wednesdays being the days with the most operations. This represents close to 700,000 seats, slightly above the supply in 2019, mainly due to the fact that the route will be operated by Airbus A320neo aircraft with greater capacity.

Capacity record in Rome and Paris

In the rest of Europe, Iberia will concentrate its efforts on Italy. In Rome it will do so with five more weekly frequencies, reaching 37 weekly flights and up to six daily flights from Friday to Sunday, which represents a historical maximum for the airline in this city. Iberia also grows in Milan with seven percent more seats.

Paris is also a historical maximum, where Iberia and Iberia Express have deployed more capacity than ever. Both airlines have 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 consolidates its presence in Lisbon with up to 40 weekly flights (six daily flights), in Porto, it grows from three to four daily flights compared to last winter, and it will offer its route to Funchal throughout the winter with three weekly frequencies.

And in Switzerland, Iberia reinforces its capacity with three more frequencies to Geneva and will reach a total of 33 weekly flights.

New destinations in Africa

In Morocco, Iberia recovers the operation with its three destinations: Casablanca with nine weekly flights, Marrakech with 10, and Tangier with another five weekly flights.

In addition, in the last month, Iberia has added two other destinations to its operation with Africa: Luanda (Angola) in a shared code with TAAG and with three weekly flights and, for the first time in its history, it will operate charter flights to Amman (Jordan) will combine with Cairo (Egypt).

30 October 2020