Spanish national flag carrier Iberia has launched a new livery to help promote tourism in Cantabria, northern Spain. The IAG-owned airline has painted one of its 11 Airbus A321s with impressive images of the Cabárceno Nature Park, where almost 120 animal species from five continents live in semi-freedom.
The action was carried out as part of a marketing agreement between Spain's Cantabrian Ministry of Tourism, Innovation, Transport and Trade, and Iberia. The Airbus A321 was chosen as it connects 90 destinations within Spain to short and medium-haul destinations within Europe and North Africa.
The livery is animal-themed
Sporting its new wildlife-themed livery, the vinyl-wrapped A321 took off from Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport (MAD) on Wednesday for Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (SDR). On arrival in Cantabria, the aircraft was greeted by a delegation of officials led by the president of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, and the Minister of Industry, Tourism, Innovation, Transport and Trade, Javier López Marcano.
The animal-themed livery is the second time Iberia has painted one of its planes with species found in the Cabárceno Nature Park. On this occasion, the work was done in-house by painting and vinyl wrapping experts in the hangars located in La Muñoza at Madrid Airport.
Iberia wants to promote Cantabria
Dedicating a large part of its onboard magazine Ronda for July and August, Iberia enhances Cantabria to its international audience on routes to Europe from North and South America. When speaking about the wildlife-themed livery Iberia's director of Sales and Network Development and Alliances Iberia Jesús López Solas, said:
"Iberia bet for Cantabria, and so we have done throughout this year while maintaining connectivity with Santander. We want to strengthen our flights so that Cantabrians can enjoy a vast network of destinations for their business and vacations. Furthermore, we are absolutely confident that traffic will be reactivated little by little, and from Iberia, we will continue to promote tourism in the region and its international projection."
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About the Cabárceno Nature Park
Operated by Cantur, a tourism company owned by the government of Cantabria, the Cabárceno Nature Park is located 17 kilometers (11 miles) south of Santander. Occupying 750 hectares (1,853.29 acres), the park is situated on a former open-pit iron ore mine.
Unlike a conventional zoo or natural park, the Cabárceno Nature Park provides a natural environment for the animals that inhabit it. The Cabárceno Natural Park has two primary purposes: the conservation of endangered species and environmental education.
Home to more than 100 animal species from around the world, the park houses the animals in semi-captive conditions that include five large enclosures where several species coexist. The environment in which they live has limited human interference except for providing food to allow the animals to live undisturbed as they would in the wild.
There are more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) of roads in the park, numerous footpaths, and beautiful natural scenery, including lakes, gorges, and rock formations. To visit the park, you have to pay an entrance fee which varies by season. A day ticket for an adult costs €19 for an adult and €9.50 for a child during the winter. In the high season (July-August) an adult ticket costs €39 and a children's ticket €21.50.
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