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Following these changes, Iberia group airlines will fly
to more than 90 cities in some 40 countries, some of
them new territories for Iberia, such as Ghana,
Mauritania, Angola, and the city of Oran in Algeria and
Los Angeles in California. To
generate new revenues and reduce costs, Iberia will
offer all-new Economy and Business class sections on its
long-haul flights. The new cabin interiors, seats, and
entertainment options will be available on the current
fleet of Airbus A340-600s, and the A330s to be delivered
starting early next year. The company is also working to
improve ground services, while seeking additional
sources of revenue, such as the new VIP lounges in Miami
and Buenos Aires.
Iberia's CEO Rafael Sánchez-Lozano explained that
“Iberia is obliged to transform its commercial model,
and this means focusing on routes that can help turn the
company around - the profitable ones that still have
some margin for future growth –, and these are our most
strategic long-haul routes. The ones we are dropping are
the biggest loss makers, where we have no chance of
turning a profit under current conditions. Once we are
able to restore competitiveness to the airline, we will
carefully look at these routes to see if we can pick
them up again.”
The new policies are crucial for returning the airline
to the black and maintaining its market leadership. The
Transformation Plan calls for focusing on strategic and
profitable routes, where there is still growth
potential. Iberia will improve connections
for long-haul flights, offering one or two daily
frequencies, with all-new Economy and Business class
sections, new seats, customized entertainment, and
better services overall.
Other new products and services will be launched to
build revenues. Next year, and within the
Transformation Plan, Iberia will increase its capacity
to long haul destination like Brazil, Mexico, Miami,
Central America, Chile or Ecuador. It will also increase
seat supply to London, Casablanca, Algiers, Dakar,
Nouakchott or Malabo. It will drop the mainly
holiday travel routes between Madrid and Athens, Cairo,
Istanbul, Santo Domingo and Havana; these destinations
can be reached directly from Spain by other airlines.
San Juan will be offered via Miami, and Montevideo via
other Iberia destinations in the region. Customers
holding tickets or reservations on the routes to be
cancelled will be offered alternative travel
arrangements or full refunds.
On
April 8, 2010, British Airways and Iberia had signed an
agreement to merge, making the combined operation the
third largest commercial airline in the world by
revenue. Shareholders of both carriers approved the deal
on November 29, 2010. The newly merged company, known as
International Airlines Group IAG, was established in
January 2011, although both airlines will continue to
operate under their current brands.
In November 2012 Iberia had stated it planed to reduce
the number of employees by 4,500 and its fleet by five
long-haul and 20 short-haul aircraft, in a "fight for
survival", as IAG's chief executive officer said.
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