Iberia continues to bet strongly on Latin America and plans to raise capacity on several routes there in the 2019 summer season. The airline will boost the numbers of flights and seats offered on routes to Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Guatemala City, and El Salvador this winter, and next summer it will expand its services to four other important markets as part of its Latin American strategy:
Brazil: last June, Iberia raised the number of Madrid-Rio de Janeiro flights from four to five weekly, and next July flights will be daily, representing more than 180,000 seats per year, a 32% increase.
Uruguay: Iberia will operate return Madrid-Montevideo flights starting in July, and will move from five to seven flights per week, a 20% increase in annual seat supply to more than 180,000.
Ecuador, Iberia is boosting its service to Quito, and starting next July will it rise from six flights a week to a daily flight, using its biggest aircraft, the Airbus A340/600, equipped with the new Premium Economy seating section. The additional flight represents an increase in seat supply by 9.4% to nearly 245,000 per year.
Peru: Iberia will offer 100 flights to Lima in July and August, with 2,154 additional seats on that route
In 2019, Iberia is to take delivery on another three Airbus A350s; this will enable the airline to use the Airbus A350 on other routes, starting with Buenos Aires and Chicago. These new aircraft are currently flying on Iberia’s Madrid-New York flights.
As of next February, the A350 will gradually be incorporated into Madrid-Buenos Aires service, and in the course of the year an Airbus A350 will be used for one of Iberia’s daily flights between Spain and Argentina. The airline in concentrating its efforts on this key market, and will offer a total of 17 flights per week and 600,000 seats, an increase of 19% in 2019.
Chicago will become Iberia’s second US destination after New York to welcome the A350 gradually from May.