Iberia to recover its pre-pandemic capacity in winter
The winter season begins for the airline industry, which at 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 the last quarter of 2022, the airline will operate 95% of its capacity. Already in the first quarter of 2023 and thanks to the arrival of new aircraft, Iberia will experience a 105% growth over its 2019 capacity which, in the overall season, will result in an offer that already equals the network of flights and frequencies it offered before the pandemic.
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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 increase its deployment on several routes of its short and medium-haul network in Spain and Europe.
Rio de Janeiro, Caracas and Mexico, key players in Latin America
This weekend Iberia has already recovered 100% of its network in Latin America with direct flights to Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, the last two destinations remaining after the pandemic, and with three weekly frequencies on each route.
Mexico is also growing and will be the market with the largest offer with three daily flights, together with Bogota -which grows from 10 to 14 weekly frequencies-, and Buenos Aires, where Iberia consolidates its two daily flights this season.
In Santiago de Chile, Lima, Sao Paulo and Santo Domingo, the daily flight will be maintained, as well as in San José, Costa Rica, which, as of December, consolidates 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, totaling nine flights with Ecuador.
All in all, Iberia will add nearly 260 weekly flights to the region this winter – mostly 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 and, for the coming winter months, it has increased its capacity compared to 2019. Specifically, it has planned an offer of 589,000 seats, an increase of 15% over 2019, and around 2,000 flights, 21% more than in the pre-pandemic winter.
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The airline also incorporates new destinations and will maintain flights to Dallas during the winter season. Although 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 U.S. destinations compared to last winter, when restrictions on travel from Europe were not lifted until 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.
The company’s U.S. schedule is complemented by three weekly flights to Boston, another three to Los Angeles and another five weekly flights to Chicago.
Iberia’s other major U.S. launch will be in December, when it will move to T8 at New York’s JFK airport, along with its partners American Airlines and British Airways. The new terminal offers a much smoother connecting experience with other airlines, and Premium customers will have access to new lounges to enjoy a more comfortable journey.
Record capacity in Rome and Paris
Iberia will concentrate its efforts in 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 is an all-time high for the airline in this city. Iberia is also growing in Milan with seven percent more seats.
Paris is also at an all-time high, where Iberia and Iberia Express have deployed more capacity than ever before. Between them, the two 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, the airline is consolidating its presence in Lisbon with up to 40 weekly flights (six daily flights), in Porto 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 is increasing its capacity with three more flights to Geneva, bringing its total to 33 weekly flights.
New destinations in Africa
In Morocco, the company 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 more destinations to its African operations: Luanda (Angola) in codeshare with TAAG and with three weekly flights and, for the first time in its history, it will operate charter flights to Amman (Jordan) that it will combine with Cairo (Egypt).
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