Tried & Tested

Iberia A321 short-haul business class

11 Oct 2010 by BusinessTraveller

Check-in  I arrived at Madrid T4 Satellite on an incoming international flight from South America on LAN already in possession of my boarding pass. It is the first time I have used Madrid as a hub for this type of journey, although with the current block on any expansion at Heathrow, I may well have to get used to it. My first impression was that it was quite a long walk from disembarking my plane to the shuttle train to take me to the main terminal (4). Once there, passport control and security was very quick without any queues at either. 

The lounge There was not much time before departure but as I was making my way to the gate I saw the plane was delayed by about 20 minutes. Taking advantage of this, I quickly headed to the Iberia lounge for a quick drink and to check my emails. The lounge was busy but spacious. I was surprised in such a new building that there was no wifi but there were plenty of computer terminals to use.

Boarding  Boarding started about 30 minutes late. At the gate there was a police checkpoint to check passports. This made a mockery of the business priority queue as it was after the checkpoint. The airline had clearly been trying to make up time as we then stood on a rather warm walkway to the footbridge for about ten minutes waiting for boarding the plane to start.  

The seat  The A321 cabin is fitted in a 3-3 configuration. Just under half the plane were business class seats and here the middle seats were left empty effectively making it 2-2. The seat was modern,  comfortable with a good recline and plenty of legroom. The seats in economy and business are the same with a width of 43cm. The difference is the legroom with an extra 4.8cm (83.8cm) and an extra 5cm of recline. 

The flight Before take off we were offered either a selection of Spanish newspapers or The Independent. We took off about 35 minutes late and service started pretty promptly thereafter. A menu was given out, followed by a drinks and meal service. The meal actually varied from the one on the menu and consisted of a prawn salad, a choice of veal sirloin or battered cod, cheese, truffle cake and bread with a choice of olive oil or oil and balsamic. The quality was surprisingly good and better than I had expected. Following the meal service there was a second drinks service. 

Arrival  There was a tailwind and the flight caught up time landing after 1 hour 45 minutes just a couple of minutes late. I had no luggage and the arrivals hall was quiet so I was out of the Heathrow’s T3 within 10 minutes. 

Verdict Good service and surprisingly good food. The boarding system for premium customers needs resolving, but that said, Madrid works well for this type of connection – my LAN flight came into the T4 satellite and my onward flight to Heathrow also left from T4. The terminal reminded me a little of T5 at London Heathrow, perhaps because it was also designed by Sir Normal Foster. I would use Madrid again. The challenge with all these connections isn’t so much the connecting airport, it’s making sure your flight leaves Heathrow on time. 

Contact iberia.com

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