• 

  Iberia

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  IB/IBE

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Madrid Barajas Airport

  Year Founded:

  1927

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  Airline Group:

  IAG

  CEO:

  Javier Sánchez-Prieto

  Country:

  Spain

The Spanish carrier Iberia is looking to increase its capacity to Portugal well over 2019 levels, leaving behind the COVID-19 crisis in this market. This summer, Iberia will boost its services by 9%. Let’s investigate further.

Increasing services to Portugal

On May 1, Iberia will begin operating its summer routes to and from Portugal. The carrier expects to increase its capacity by 9% over 2019 and have up to 76 flights per week by August, the busiest month of the year in this market.

Currently, Iberia operates 56 flights per week to Portugal, putting up 9,095 seats available on the market. It only has two routes, connecting Madrid Barajas Airport with Lisbon and Porto.

In addition to the year-round flights from Madrid to Lisbon and Porto (mainly operated with Airbus A320 and Airbus A319 jetliners), Iberia will add Funchal to its network in May and Faro and the Azores Islands in June.

Iberia’s regional branch Air Nostrum will operate the routes to Funchal and Faro. This carrier will deploy its CRJ-1000 fleet with a capacity of 100 passengers in a 2-2 configuration. Air Nostrum has ten aircraft of this model produced by Bombardier Regional Aircraft.

Air Nostrum also operates a fleet of CRJ-900, CRJ-200, and ATR-72 aircraft, according to its website. In total, it has a fleet of 42 planes, according to its website.

Meanwhile, the flight to the Azores will be operated by Iberia onboard its Airbus A320 fleet.

Launching the routes

Iberia and Air Nostrum will operate these seasonal routes between May 1 and the end of October.

The route to Funchal will begin with three flights per week, on Monday, Friday, and Sunday, before moving to five weekly services in July and daily by August.

On June 2, Iberia will launch its second summer destination in Portugal, Faro, in the Algarve region. It will begin with two daily flights before moving to five in July and daily in August.

As stated before, these two routes will be operated by Air Nostrum’s CRJ-1000 fleet.

Finally, the route between Madrid and Ponta Delgada in the Azores will have two weekly services on Tuesdays and Saturdays from June to September.

For these flights, the airline will use 173-seat Airbus A320s.

Discover more aviation news here.

Increasing connectivity to Lisbon and Porto

In addition to Faro, Funchal, and the Azores (which are leisure destinations for the summer season), Iberia will strengthen its flights to Lisbon and Porto, Portugal’s main cities.

This summer, the IAG carrier will have 36 weekly flights between Madrid and Lisbon, compared to 33 in 2019. It competes with TAP Air Portugal, easyJet, and Air Europa on this route.

Likewise, Iberia will offer up to 28 weekly frequencies (four daily flights) from May to October in the Madrid-Porto route. In 2019, it operated 26 weekly frequencies. This route also has Ryanair, easyJet, and Air Europa as players.

Iberia added,

“To both Lisbon and Porto, there will be flights at all hours for the convenience of the business travelers. The first flight leaves Madrid at 06:35h, and the last departs at 23:05h for a same-day return. The first Madrid-Porto flight departs at 08:20, and the last at 19:35h.”

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