This week saw Iberia launch its enhanced air shuttle service between Madrid & Barcelona as the ramp-up to pre-COVID levels continues.
Customers have the option to choose from 15 daily flights, with the airline saying that there will be take-offs every 30 minutes at peak times.
Times on the schedule see the first flight depart at 7 am and the last one at 9:30 pm.
Iberia Outlines Successes from Air Shuttle Service…
In a statement, Iberia said the following about the successes experienced from the air shuttle service between Barcelona & Madrid:
“All in all, in the summer season, Iberia will increase its market share in the air segment between Madrid and Barcelona by 5 percentage points compared to the 2019 level, reaching 65%.”
Iberia achieved a good mix of corporate and connecting traffic on its Madrid-Barcelona route, which allowed it to increase frequencies and recover its pre-pandemic level.”
“In recent months, the load factor on these flights has been above 80%, a figure that is close to those recorded before the pandemic.”
“The Air Shuttle between Madrid and Barcelona is Iberia’s main domestic route. It is operated by a fleet mix that includes its new Airbus A320neo, with dedicated teams in Madrid and Barcelona.”
“All of this contributes to the route’s excellent punctuality rate, which in 2022 was 90.5% and so far this year stands at 91.3%.”
The Airline Is Storming Ahead of Pre-COVID Levels…
This announcement from Iberia represents an expansion in movement numbers, which is well ahead of pre-COVID levels currently.
Data from RadarBox.com shows that between February 26-March 5, 523 movements were handled based on a seven-day rolling average.
This represents an increase of 14.44% compared to the same period last year and is 179 movements higher than the same period in 2019.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data from the carrier:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| January 29-February 5 | 330 movements | 443 movements | 532 movements | +20.09% |
| February 5-12 | 338 movements | 442 movements | 536 movements | +21.27% |
| February 12-19 | 335 movements | 362 movements | 538 movements | +48.62% |
| February 19-26 | 348 movements | 430 movements | 548 movements | +27.44% |
What we can see from the data is substantial growth in flight operations that is overly reflective of a post-COVID boom that has been observed.
The fact is double-digit growth year-on-year highlights that this pattern has a strong chance of continuing into the Summer 2023 season.
Overall…
It remains clear that Iberia is in a very strong position and is capitalizing on previous successes to bolster passenger numbers and revenue streams ahead of a busy Summer period.
All eyes will be on the carrier to see how far they can go with their Summer 2023 expansion, with announcements made already in this area.
With a bolstered long-haul network, to the recovery of short-haul operations, Iberia does look destined for a successful 2023, but for now, the ball is in their court.
