In November 2021, Iberia announced three routes to the United States, launching in the summer of 2022. However, since that initial announcement it has been radio silence from the airline, and schedules for the flights were never published, and the flights also never went on sale. That has finally changed.
Of the three routes, one is all new, one was announced pre-pandemic but was never launched, and one was launched pre-pandemic but was suspended. These new services complement Iberia’s existing destinations in the United States, which include Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.
Iberia adding Madrid to Dallas flight
For the summer of 2022, Iberia will operate 4x weekly seasonal flights between Madrid (MAD) and Dallas (DFW). The flight will be operated between June 1 and October 29, 2022, with the following schedule:
IB6146 Madrid to Dallas departing 3:55PM arriving 7:50PM
IB6147 Dallas to Madrid departing 9:25PM arriving 2:20PM (+1 day)
The flight will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, using an Airbus A330-200. The 4,966-mile flight is blocked at 11hr15min westbound and 9hr35min eastbound.
This new Iberia service will complement American’s daily flight between Dallas and Madrid, generally operated with a Boeing 787. The two airlines are part of the oneworld transatlantic joint venture, which includes American, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, and Aer Lingus. So the two airlines will be working together in this market, given the revenue sharing that happens with these arrangements.
Dallas is a huge hub for American, while Madrid is a huge hub for Iberia, so this flight should have plenty of connectivity opportunities on both ends.
Iberia finally launching Madrid to Washington flight
In 2019, Iberia announced plans to launch a Madrid to Washington flight (which was actually a resumption, as the airline operated this route somewhere around a decade ago). That was supposed to launch as of the summer of 2020. That didn’t end up materializing due to the pandemic, but that will finally be changing.
For the summer of 2022, Iberia will operate 4x weekly seasonal flights between Madrid (MAD) and Washington (IAD). The flight will be operated between June 1 and October 29, 2022, with the following schedule:
IB6131 Madrid to Washington departing 12:10PM arriving 3:15PM
IB6132 Washington to Madrid departing 4:45PM arriving 6:30AM (+1 day)
The flight will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, using an Airbus A330-200. The 3,817-mile flight is blocked at 9hr5min westbound and 7hr45min eastbound.
Washington Dulles isn’t a huge oneworld hub, so I imagine this is primarily targeted at those traveling to & from Washington, with destinations in Spain & beyond.
Iberia resuming Madrid to San Francisco flight
In 2018, Iberia launched a seasonal Madrid to San Francisco flight. This returned in the summer of 2019, but was then suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. This will be making a comeback next year.
For the summer of 2022, Iberia will operate 3x weekly seasonal flights between Madrid (MAD) and San Francisco (SFO). The flight will be operated between June 1 and September 30, 2022, with the following schedule:
IB6193 Madrid to San Francisco departing 12:20PM arriving 4:15PM
IB6174 San Frnacisco to Madrid departing 5:50PM arriving 2:10PM (+1 day)
The flight will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, using an Airbus A330-200. The 5,812-mile flight is blocked at 12hr55min westbound and 11hr20min eastbound.
San Francisco is a huge market in and of itself, and on top of that Alaska Airlines has joined the oneworld alliance as of the spring of 2021, which will open up lots of connectivity beyond the Bay Area.
Business class award seats are available!
Now that these flights have been loaded into the schedule, this is a fantastic chance to snag some award seats. Best I can tell, each flight has two business class award seats loaded.
Not only can these flights potentially be convenient, but they’re also a great value when redeeming points:
- You can redeem 57,500 AAdvantage miles for a one-way business class ticket between the United States and Europe, with no fuel surcharges
- You can redeem Iberia Plus Avios for these flights with very limited surcharges; pricing varies based on the distance of the route and whether it’s peak or off-peak, but you can expect these to cost 34,000 to 75,000 Avios one-way
Bottom line
Iberia is launching some exciting new routes to the United States for the summer of 2022, including new flights to Dallas and Washington, and a resumption of flights to San Francisco. These are all cool routes, and they’re now finally on sale.
None of these routes really come as a surprise — the San Francisco route existed pre-pandemic, the Washington route was supposed to be launched in 2020, and the Dallas route seems like a safe bet, given the oneworld transatlantic joint venture.
What do you make of Iberia’s new routes to the United States?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.