Despite the initial plan of retrofitting and flying its new business class cabin by December next year, Spanish flag carrier and member of the International Airlines Group (IAG) Iberia has already been flying the new cabin since December 10th.

Flying one year ahead of schedule

In July 2022, IAG unveiled the exciting development of Iberia's business class, highlighting that the airline would install a new business class product featuring seats with doors on its Airbus A350-900 aircraft. It was assumed then that the new products would be installed on the five remaining Airbus A350s after they had been delivered to Iberia.

Given how long installation would take, and seeing as Iberia would only receive all five Airbus A350s by next year, the initial timeline for the latest cabin introductions would be toward the end of next year. However, the airline has subtly introduced the new installation on its latest Airbus A350, registered EC-NXE.

The latest widebody addition was the third of the five anticipated deliveries and has been flying from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport to Barcelona, Boston, Düsseldorf, London, and Paris. It suffices to say the new business class cabin has been on quite the European tour already.

Iberia Airbus A350-900
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Stay tuned: Simple Flying will get a firsthand look at the new business class cabins next week in Madrid!

Introducing the Recaro seats for Iberia

But what exactly are Iberia's new business class seats? The flag carrier partnered with Recaro and selected the CL6720 seat, which is an evolution of the previous CL6170 seat and features a privacy door. The evolved seat product can also be found on TAP Air Portugal and Azul Airbus A330neos, as well as on El Al's Boeing 787-9s.

Air China will also install the CL6720 seats on its newer Airbus A350-900s, further signifying their popularity. One notable feature of the CL6720 seats is the staggered variants, whereby some variants are for couples and other, more private variants are for solo passengers. Regardless of layout, the CL6720 seats promise comfort with simplicity.

Due to the staggered variants, most seats face forward, but some are slightly angled. And since Iberia's old business class cabin was already in staggered configurations, the new products will be quite a significant upgrade for the flag carrier. According to Recaro, the CL6720 seats are going to be game-changing for Iberia, emphasizing:

"Even though this business class seat lacks nothing, it is one of the most layout-efficient and lightest seats in the industry."

Bottom line

Iberia will likely make the formal introduction of the Recaro CL6720 seats once all the newer five Airbus A350-900s have them installed. Considering EC-NXE already flies with the product, the final two are likely to be delivered with the cabin ready installed too.

However, the two aircraft delivered before EC-NXE were probably affected by supply chain issues, which is why the two aircraft are currently missing business class cabins. Hopefully, the first two will get their cabins installed soon. It's also currently uncertain if Iberia will eventually retrofit its older Airbus A350s, but the possibility remains likely.

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Source: Head for Points

  • Iberia Airbus A350-941 EC-NDR
    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
  • rsz_airbus_50th_years_anniversary_formation_flight_-_air_to_air
    Airbus
    Stock Code:
    AIR
    Date Founded:
    1970-12-18
    CEO:
    Guillaume Faury
    Headquarters Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Key Product Lines:
    Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380
    Business Type:
    Planemaker