hardiwv

New Flight from Iberia:

BCN 0130 GRU 0800
GRU 1345 BCN 0535

The flight is a direct response to SQ starting BCN-GRU 3 weekly from March 2011. IB already flies MAD-GRU twice daily, MAD-GIG daily and soon will start MAD-FOR-REC.

Rgs,

hardiwv

Iberia takes another step to make Barcelona airport a major intercontinental hub

- Iberia is growing in Barcelona with new transatlantic flights, the creation of an intercontinental hub at El Prat, networks for distributing traffic to the Americas, and a new maintenance hangar.

- In the upcoming summer season the airline will operate direct flights from Barcelona to Miami and São Paulo.

- Iberia will transform El Prat into a genuine hub for its flights between Europe and most of the Americas (the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Southern Cone of South America). It will be fed chiefly by the Vueling network, which serves 16 destinations in Spain and nearly 30 more in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

- Both in Miami and São Paulo, Iberia has a major flight network for distributing traffic to most of the Americas: from Miami to other cities in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America; and from São Paulo to the rest of Brazil and the countries of the Southern Cone.

- Iberia's new maintenance hangar, which opens today, is the only one in Barcelona capable of accommodating aircraft with more than 100 seats. The new installations will help drive the airport's development and invigorate Barcelona's industrial economy, while providing between 150 and 200 highly-skilled jobs.
Madrid, 18 of October of 2010

Iberia is growing in Barcelona. In the next summer season, the Spanish airline will operate direct transatlantic flights from the city to Miami and São Paulo. To bring traffic to these flights, Iberia is transforming El Prat airport into a genuine hub for flights by the Vueling and Iberia Regional /Air Nostrum .

In addition, for passengers on the new flights from Barcelona to Miami and São Paulo, Iberia has a thick web of connections to distribute this traffic throughout the Americas: from Miami to other U.S. and Central American cities via code shares with American Airlines; and from São Paulo to the rest of Brazil and cites of the southern cone of South American with the Gol company, under a new code share agreement that is now being negotiated, and with other airlines in the region.

Added to this is the new maintenance hangar in Barcelona that Iberia is opening today, which is the only one in Barcelona able to accommodate aircraft with more than 100 seats, and will deliver a strong impulse to the future development of the airport.

Direct Iberia Transatlantic Flights from Barcelona
Starting on March 28th, Iberia will offer direct flights from Barcelona to Miami and São Paulo. The company will operate three weekly flights to each of the two cities, using Airbus A340/300s, and scheduling the flights to ensure convenient connections.

Iberia expects many passengers on the new Barcelona-Miami and Barcelona-São Paulo route to be heading to or from other cities, and that the Barcelona airport will thus become another important hub for distributing passenger traffic to and from the Americas. El Prat airport is served by both Iberia Regional/Air Nostrum and by Vueling. Passengers on the Barcelona-São Paulo route can connect to or from Vueling's 43 destinations in Spain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. This airline, in which Iberia holds a minority share, is a "new generation" airline that offers customers the possibility of reserving connecting flights and booking their luggage through to the final destination.

The new flights will also enable Iberia to expand its cargo services in Barcelona, particularly with export shipments to the United States and Latin America.

From Barcelona to Miami, Other U.S. Cities, Mexico, and Central America
In the first year of operation, average seat occupancy on the new flight is expected to reach 80%, for a total of more than 50,000 passengers in 2011. Of these, 31% will be travelling beyond Miami, mainly to other U.S., Mexican, and Central American destinations. Iberia passengers in Miami can connect to flights to ten destinations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (San Juan, Houston, Orlando, Dallas, Tampa, Key West, Norfolk, Pensacola, Ft. Myers and Tallahassee), and to another five cites in Mexico (Mexico City, Cancun) and Central America (Managua, Panama City, San Pedro Sula, Mexico City, and Cancún) thanks to the code sharing agreement between Iberia and American Airlines.

In addition, all flights over the North Atlantic are covered by the "joint business" agreement signed by Iberia, American Airlines and British Airways, whereby customers get cheaper fares, extra frequent flyer points, more travel options, and easier connections within the oneworld alliance to 663 destinations in 134 countries.

Cruise ship passengers are expected to constitute a significant proportion of the passengers on the Barcelona-Miami flights, since about 20% of Miami-Barcelona passengers board cruise ships in Barcelona.

From Barcelona to São Paulo and the Entire Southern Cone
Iberia also expects to fly some 50,000 passengers on the Barcelona-São Paulo route in 2011, with 83% seat occupancy. The Barcelona-São Paulo flights Iberia's gateway to Brazil, where passengers will find connections to another 13 cities (Bel Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Fortaleza, Goiania, Iguaįu, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador de Bahía, and Vitoria), thanks to the agreement, subject to the authorities approval, with the Gol airline. Iberia passengers can also connect in São Paulo to Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia.

A New Hangar for Barcelona
Iberia's other new strength in Barcelona is the maintenance hangar that is being opened today. It is the sole facility in Barcelona with a capacity to accommodate aircraft with more than 100 seats, and is expected to help drive future development of EL Prat airport.

It will also contribute to Barcelona's business and industrial development, as its production steadily increases. In the medium term it is expected to create between 150 and 200 direct highly-skilled jobs

heramato

Sweet news for my ears......
But Im still waiting Singapore Airlines to start the FRA-BCN-GRU route. That will be my goal.

alanw

How nice to see IB scurrying back to Barcelona after crapping out ClickAir a few years ago and walking away.

I'll believe their BCN hub nonsense when I get my BCN-LAX flight, and not until.

jbcarioca

I really want Singapore in GIG, too, but I'll be happy when IB begins BCN-GIG, which is rumored for late 2011.

hardiwv

SQ SIN-BCN-GRU will start on 29 March 2011.

Rgs,

heramato

Thatīs great. But BCN-GRU departs at 10:30AM
Im not able to fly or to do anything that early..........
Thanks for posting

GRUflyer

So what happens when you take a red-eye?

After the airplane lands and everybody leaves, you just keep on sleeping by yourself until noon?

heramato

I get it.... but Im not able to live my house before noon....
That's one of the reasons I never fly TAP from europe to Brasil.... Departure from Barcelona at 6am???? Oh no........

hardiwv

Other airlines also operate daylight flights to GRU such as AF, KLM or TAP or even IB (airline such as IB and AF fly twice daily to GRU with daylight and redeye departures!).

You have to bear in mind that airlines arriving in the morning in GRU (redeye flight) entails a full day with the airplane grounded in GRU. E.g. IB redeye MAD-GRU arrives in GRU 7am and only departs 6pm (or more than 10h with the aircraft parked in GRU).

Of course, in such highly corporate/business market like GRU redeye flights generate much higher yields which more than compensate for the time the aircraft lies iddle in GRU, this is why the majority of airlines arrive in the morning in GRU and only return in the late afternoon/evening.

In the case of SQ is different, because the timetable needs to fit its end hub in SIN.

Rgs,

tff

Since last year, during the Fall, Winter and Spring months TAP also has redeyes to GRU, GIG and BSB

heramato

True. But you normally get discounted C class prices in the morning flights

GRUflyer

Maybe if I got paid I'd fly TP.

Seriously, they have by far the worst product on the Brazil-EU market.

You are not missing anything, really!

TK also operates dailylight flights to Brazil... but that flight is so long that it is impossible not to sleep for at least a couple of hours....