Iberia has outlined plans for its winter flight programme, serving over 75 destinations and around 70 per cent of its pre-pandemic network.
In particular the carrier is to focus on same-day services for business travellers, offering at least two daily return flights on 80 per cent of domestic and 32 per cent of the busiest European routes.
Iberia mainline, Iberia Express and Air Nostrum (flying as Iberia Regional) will between them offer nearly 700 direct return flights from Madrid during December, representing around 40 per cent of capacity compared to 2019.
Iberia’s parent company IAG recently said that would operate at “no more than 30 per cent” capacity in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Iberia long-haul services to Sao Paulo resumed at the end of October, to be joined by flights to Rio, Medellin and Cali in December, and to Caracas “pending the reopening of Venezuela airspace”.
Frequency on the Puente Aereo walk-on shuttle between Madrid and Barcelona is also set to double from the current 24 to 43 return flights per week.
Iberia’s Sala Premium Dali VIP lounge in Madrid’s T4 reopened last month, and the carrier said that it is “gradually restoring its in-flight services on all its flights, including fresh food and hot meals”.
Commenting on the news Iberia’s group executive chairman Javier Sánchez-Prieto, said:
“At Iberia we believe strongly that recovery is possible, and we plan to do our part. We are eager to help our customers reactivate their businesses and other activities, and to this end we are returning this season with more flights, more destinations, and all the services our customers have come to expect from us.
“Airlines are proving that health and safety, which remain our highest priority, are perfectly compatible with connectivity and the services that improve the air travel experience, while also helping to drive economic activity.”
“It is our wish that, as always and especially in difficult times, Iberia will continue to be a trusted airline.”
