Hello
Originally Posted by
number_6
Their fleet is not mission capable for LAX-MAD. You fly the routes you can (until you buy better planes which are mission capable). More accurately, their A343s aren't capable, and their A346s are better used elsewhere.
Obviously number_6 you are confuse about the Airbus 340-300 , aka 343 plane .
Airbus 343 range is 13,700 Km , while the 346 is only marginally longer with 14,640 Km .
Los Angeles, California is only 9,406 Km from Madrid, Spain .
Buenos Aires ( 10,062 Km ) and Santiago de Chile ( 10,700 Km ) are further away from Madrid than Los Angeles and Iberia's 343 planes fly there since 1996.
Swiss use 343 to fly Zurich-Los Angeles ( 9,556 Km) . Virgin Atlantic also serves Los Angeles sometimes with 343 .
Tokio ( 10,784 Km) and Shangai ( 10,290 Km ) are exactly at the same distance from Madrid , than Santiago de Chile ( 10,700 Km ) and Buenos Aires ( 10,062 Km )
The 343 it's a superb plane , here you have a picture of one of them taken in Boston during the ceremony for the inagurational flight Madrid-Boston
http://grupo.iberia.es/content/GrupoIberia/Imagenes/Sala%20de%20Prensa/Galerias/Lo%20ultimo/BOS-Mayo'07%20045.JPG
Iberia is so satisfied with the 343 that has adquired 2 more 343 in 2007 without a previous commitment . However the 346 , a newer model , had some problems at the start now mostly solved.
Originally Posted by
number_6
But I agree, lots of aspects of IB's route selection are a bit ... strange.
Iberia is an extremly conservative airline regarding new destinations and frecuencies and in the last 10 years haven't made a mistake.
Some had doubts about Boston and Washington and they are doing extremly well with 88% load factor already booked for the entire summer season as of May 31 . That would mean overbooking very shortly .
Iberia have said that expects to increase to 1x daily in 2008.
Originally Posted by
number_6
And now their strategy is ... to go after AY's business? I think they will lose big-time; but perhaps all those big, fat Spanish companies are busily outsourcing to China, and they think there is sufficient O/D traffic to justify the routes.
Obviously there isn't O/D traffic between Spain and Asia ... but Iberia don't pretend that .
Iberia pretends to do the same that Air China has started to do recently , linking Asia with Latin America via Madrid .
Perhaps some will be surprised here but a PEK-MAD-GRU , 17,562 Km is shorter than a direct PEK-GRU 17, 577 Km and the route goes over land instead the pacific and with the posibility of capturing traffic in Europe.
Iberia new destinations:
2008
LAX,SFO (both) and YYZ .
Increase to 1 daily BOS, IAD.
Complete LatAm network.
2009
Link LatAm with Asia via MAD
Tokio and Shangai cited by name.
Iberia to place order for new long-haul aircraft later this year , undecided about 350 or 787 , but in any case a transitional plane is necesary until delivery .
Iberia has confirmed more new long-haul planes for 2008 and 2009.
Iberia need to put in value the new MAD T4S satellite actually underused . T4S has a nominal capacity of 15 Millions passengers and in 2006 only 6 millions used it.
T4S is non-schengen territory , and non-schengen to non-schengen passenger don't require any kind of visa to transit via T4S .
However going via the US requires Visa .