DALLAS — Spanish national airline Iberia (IB) has announced that it will be increasing its flights to North and Latin America for the summer of 2023. The transatlantic network, especially flights to South and Central America, is the most important and profitable market for the airline based in Madrid (MAD).

Starting on March 25, IB will offer its full pre-pandemic seat capacity and will increase its operations by 23.4% over the year 2022. This includes nearly 280 weekly flights to 18 destinations across 16 countries in Latin America.

In South America, flights to Bogotá (BOG) will gradually increase from 10 to 21 weekly frequencies in summer and fall, as well as three new weekly flights to Lima (LIM), with the goal of having two daily flights from Madrid by the end of the year.

In Central America, the airline will operate daily flights to El Salvador (SAL), San José (SJO), and Guatemala (GUA). The latest is heavily influenced by the recent codeshare agreement signed by Iberia and TAG Airlines (5U), to increase connectivity along the Maya lands and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Finally, flights to the United States will also be boosted thanks to the implementation of daily frequencies to Boston (BOS) and Chicago (ORD), two daily flights to New York (JFK), and Miami (MIA), along with the resumption of seasonal connections to San Francisco (SFO), Washington (IAD), and Los Angeles (LAX), with three-to-four weekly flights with larger Airbus A350 aircraft.

From Madrid to Europe

Iberia's expansion to the Americas is accompanied by the rescheduling of European network routes. Passengers connecting through Madrid (MAD) will be able to reach new summer destinations such as Bergen (BGO) in Norway, Catania (CTA), Olbia (OLB) in Italy, Ponta Delgada (PDL), and Faro (FAO) in Portugal.

However, the largest bet from Iberia for the summer 2023 season is located on the Eastern Mediterranean, with new seasonal routes announced to Athens (ATH), Corfu (CFU), Mykonos (JMK), and Santorini (JTR) in Greece, and Dubrovnik (DBV), Split (SPU), and Zagreb (ZAG) in Croatia.

With this broad seat offer, Iberia has remained the leading carrier for most passenger flights from Latin America to Europe. Maria Jesús López Solás, commercial director of Iberia, stated: "Latin America and the Caribbean have been the center of our strategy to enhance our leadership in routes between Latin America and Europe and, at the same time, defend the position of Madrid airport as the bridge between both regions".

Featured image: Lorenzo Giacobbo/Airways

https://airwaysmag.com/iberia-tag-codeshare-agreement/