jmmadrid wrote:

Back in the 70's and 80´s and maybe part of the 90's, when IBERIA was stated-owned, the cabin crews had a reputation of being unfriendly and in many cases bad tempered.

However, since IAG bought the company things have changed 180º. The new crews are very friendly and -surprisingly- many of them try to engage in small talk with passengers while serving them. I've had four very good flights with them in the last few months.

I believe the only area where they still need to improve is their English. I heard "some" of them answering to passengers' questions and it was a bit embarrassing. I want to clarify that it was only some of them, as others were perfectly fine.

Iberia was not been bought by IAG. IAG is a holding between IB and BAW.

Buenos Aires, Bogota and Mexico City they are great candidates !

I wanna hear more about this alleged livery refresh

Today in FITUR maybe we have the answer.......

a350lover wrote:

skipness1E wrote:

Heathrow. They’ll maybe replace the A346 for familiarity?

LOL. For sure they'll need to put them on this route for crew training purposes.

I think we'll also see the same for BA's A350's and swap out the 787/777 flight for a few weeks.

IB said in FITUR that his first A350 will be the firsy plane with new new winglets......bigger than now

First destination is.......LHR

JFK IN AUGUST

marco sansavini dur com anuncia londres primer destino del @Airbus A350 de @Iberia y desde agosto a Nueva York. @fitur_madrid

Flights from MAD to LHR in the new A350 from june to August.......

pabloeing wrote:

Flights from MAD to LHR in the new A350 from june to August.......

Will they label it the Brexit Express?

J/k.

Looking forward to seeing the 350 in NYC. Spain is high in my list of next vacation destinations.

Any word on dates of first flight?

I might actually try and grab a seat on that one.

pabloeing wrote:

Flights from MAD to LHR in the new A350 from june to August.......

No real surprise there it was a given really.

pabloeing wrote:

IB said in FITUR that his first A350 will be the firsy plane with new new winglets......bigger than now

Bregier was extremely vague about the new winglets during the press conf last week. I suspect they are trying to hide the improvement for as long as they can.

Iberia is indeed getting a new version of the a359 with many improvements.

http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebC ... mCysEtLei4

Translation gives us:

Iberia will be the first company to receive a new improved version of the A350-900 in terms of aerodynamics, structure and some elements such as the landing gear, which has been reinforced.

KarelXWB wrote:

Translation gives us:

Iberia will be the first company to receive a new improved version of the A350-900 in terms of aerodynamics, structure and some elements such as the landing gear, which has been reinforced.

Is the landing gear the same as the 350-1000?

Kadish wrote:

KarelXWB wrote:

Translation gives us:

Iberia will be the first company to receive a new improved version of the A350-900 in terms of aerodynamics, structure and some elements such as the landing gear, which has been reinforced.

Is the landing gear the same as the 350-1000?

i think that no.....maybe some minor details

You can see below the slide that Iberia presented outlining the changes in the new 280t variant which I think that are the same that are expected for the ULR version sans the additional fuel capacity. Even tho that up to 280t is available Iberia will certify their A350-900 with a 275t MTOW which seems to indicate that performance is good enough for high altitude destinations like UIO, BOG or MEX. This along with the high density configuration (31J/24W/293Y) seems to indicate that a future order for 350-1000 is unlikely.

• Engine PIP that provides 1% fuel savings and 700kg of additional payload.
• Aerodinamics improvement package with taller winglets,
• Some structural improvements that allow for weight savings
• Up to 280t MTOW supported by reinforced landing gear

Kadish wrote:

Is the landing gear the same as the 350-1000?

Nope, the landing gear is different from the one used in 350-1000 which uses a 6-wheel vs 4-wheel in the 350-900 even tho 350-1000 wheels are slightly smaller then the ones used in 350-900. The landing gear is just reinforced to support the additional weight of the 280t MTOW weight variant.

pabloeing wrote:

Kadish wrote:

Is the landing gear the same as the 350-1000?

i think that no.....maybe some minor details

It comes with the all the new ULR hardware, including landing gear

Some information wrapped around aviation blogs:
275Tm, able to get 280Tm certification, all hardware already in place including landing gear for ULR operation after a potential certification change.
Lighter wing (1 less carbon layer on both upper and bottom side of the wing)
New wing twist for a higher nose position
Flap guides 30 cm longer
New winglet (50cm taller)
Redesign of the bottom of the fuselage below the cargo hold
Redesign of the upper fuselage union wing-frame
Modified window frames

Jayafe wrote:

pabloeing wrote:

Kadish wrote:

Is the landing gear the same as the 350-1000?

i think that no.....maybe some minor details

It comes with the all the new ULR hardware, including landing gear

Some information wrapped around aviation blogs:
275Tm, able to get 280Tm certification, all hardware already in place including landing gear for ULR operation after a potential certification change.
Lighter wing (1 less carbon layer on both upper and bottom side of the wing)
New wing twist for a higher nose position
Flap guides 30 cm longer
New winglet (50cm taller)
Redesign of the bottom of the fuselage below the cargo hold
Redesign of the upper fuselage union wing-frame
Modified window frames

Are they thinking to use the plane URL in a future to come? Where could they send them ULR? Enough legs to reach Australia or New Zeeland?
Thanks for the info

Kadish wrote:

Are they thinking to use the plane URL in a future to come? Where could they send them ULR? Enough legs to reach Australia or New Zeeland?
Thanks for the info

I would say that those destinations dont have a business case for IB. I would put my cents in Asia (NRT flight from MAD is already close to the limit of the A330), and specifically used to get allowance for cargo and guarantee performance for high and hot airports in SouthAmerica, in spite of the 1st unit deployed to JFK and I would say the second one to ORD for reputation reasons, the A359 is meant to replace the A346 in trunk routes. IB will still be in "consolidation mode" for a while.

Jayafe wrote:

Kadish wrote:

Are they thinking to use the plane URL in a future to come? Where could they send them ULR? Enough legs to reach Australia or New Zeeland?
Thanks for the info

I would say that those destinations dont have a business case for IB. I would put my cents in Asia (NRT flight from MAD is already close to the limit of the A330), and specifically used to get allowance for cargo and guarantee performance for high and hot airports in SouthAmerica, in spite of the 1st unit deployed to JFK and I would say the second one to ORD for reputation reasons, the A359 is meant to replace the A346 in trunk routes. IB will still be in "consolidation mode" for a while.

The main reason it's starting at ORD and JFK is that those routes can handle a daily rotation with a single aircraft.

Once there are enough to get aircraft scheduled better with 2 in a rotation, I'd be shocked if MEX or EZE wasn't up.

Jayafe wrote:

Kadish wrote:

Are they thinking to use the plane URL in a future to come? Where could they send them ULR? Enough legs to reach Australia or New Zeeland?
Thanks for the info

I would say that those destinations dont have a business case for IB. I would put my cents in Asia (NRT flight from MAD is already close to the limit of the A330), and specifically used to get allowance for cargo and guarantee performance for high and hot airports in SouthAmerica, in spite of the 1st unit deployed to JFK and I would say the second one to ORD for reputation reasons, the A359 is meant to replace the A346 in trunk routes. IB will still be in "consolidation mode" for a while.

To be honest I thought time ago that the first destination would be ORD as u mentioned.
I wrote consolidate mode in google translator and it says chicken mode. I ve always thought that IB has a lot of room to grow because of geographicall reasons and because Spain itself attracts tourist from all the corners.

Kadish wrote:

To be honest I thought time ago that the first destination would be ORD as u mentioned.
I wrote consolidate mode in google translator and it says chicken mode. I ve always thought that IB has a lot of room to grow because of geographicall reasons and because Spain itself attracts tourist from all the corners.

It has, but also has long history of costs problems, union fights and lack of investment in planes. And competition in the SouthAmerica-Europe market is becoming fierce, so going step by step kind of makes sense.

¿SOME NEWS ABOUT WHEN IB OPEN THE A350 RESERVATIONS TO LHR?

pabloeing wrote:

¿SOME NEWS ABOUT WHEN IB OPEN THE A350 RESERVATIONS TO LHR?

Join the queue

I also see the MAD-BOG route as an important A350 destination. It's a big market that is served about 3 times a day by their competitor AV which uses modern equipment too (787). It wouldn't surprise me that IB will send the A350 to BOG sooner rather than later. Just my opinion.

A388

Personally I hope the first 16 A359's are for growth, not A346 replacement. Otherwise that would mean no net new routes for IB, as the fleet is quite stretched as it is (plus losing 2 A330's to Level, which they will get back as new orders this year). The A346's recently got a new cabin, are paid off, and still quite useful in IB's deep LatAm network. They should stay until the end of their lives, then be replaced by the second batch of 16 A359's.

Iberia is indeed getting a new version of the a359 with many improvements.

http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebC ... mCysEtLei4

No surprise. IB was also first to receive the A333 with the latest MTOW boost, is among the last customers of the A332, and in general did not get the A330 until the very very latest MTOW boosts. Their route network utilizes every last bit of the payload range curve on many destinations.

r2rho wrote:

Personally I hope the first 16 A359's are for growth, not A346 replacement. Otherwise that would mean no net new routes for IB, as the fleet is quite stretched as it is (plus losing 2 A330's to Level, which they will get back as new orders this year). The A346's recently got a new cabin, are paid off, and still quite useful in IB's deep LatAm network. They should stay until the end of their lives, then be replaced by the second batch of 16 A359's.

Iberia is indeed getting a new version of the a359 with many improvements.

http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebC ... mCysEtLei4

No surprise. IB was also first to receive the A333 with the latest MTOW boost, is among the last customers of the A332, and in general did not get the A330 until the very very latest MTOW boosts. Their route network utilizes every last bit of the payload range curve on many destinations.

Pretty sure DL got the first 242t A333

ikolkyo wrote:

r2rho wrote:

Personally I hope the first 16 A359's are for growth, not A346 replacement. Otherwise that would mean no net new routes for IB, as the fleet is quite stretched as it is (plus losing 2 A330's to Level, which they will get back as new orders this year). The A346's recently got a new cabin, are paid off, and still quite useful in IB's deep LatAm network. They should stay until the end of their lives, then be replaced by the second batch of 16 A359's.

Iberia is indeed getting a new version of the a359 with many improvements.

http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebC ... mCysEtLei4

No surprise. IB was also first to receive the A333 with the latest MTOW boost, is among the last customers of the A332, and in general did not get the A330 until the very very latest MTOW boosts. Their route network utilizes every last bit of the payload range curve on many destinations.

Pretty sure DL got the first 242t A333

Not sure about the 333, but le lattest 332 with that MTOW went for IB

IB was the first to receive the 242t A330-200 while DL was the first to receive the 242t A330-300.

r2rho wrote:

Personally I hope the first 16 A359's are for growth, not A346 replacement. Otherwise that would mean no net new routes for IB, as the fleet is quite stretched as it is (plus losing 2 A330's to Level, which they will get back as new orders this year). The A346's recently got a new cabin, are paid off, and still quite useful in IB's deep LatAm network. They should stay until the end of their lives, then be replaced by the second batch of 16 A359's..

I think the same.....IB maybe is thinking about A35K for A346 replacement.A IB A350-1000 in his current seat configuration is near 380 seats.

IB was the first to receive the 242t A330-200 while DL was the first to receive the 242t A330-300.

You are right, I mixed up 200 and 300, thanks for the correction.

In the news this morning I read an article saying that IB is asking for going 3 dailly to MEX but facing problems with slots....maybe thinking to use the new 350 there?

In spanish only:
http://www.eleconomista.es/transportes/ ... -ano-.html

In the news this morning I read an article saying that IB is asking for going 3 dailly to MEX but facing problems with slots....maybe thinking to use the new 350 there?

The article contains other interesting infos: IB is already going 19x weekly to MEX this summer, and would like to keep that year-round, but is having difficulty getting slots in the winter season.
IB also plans to go from current 14x weekly to 17x weekly to EZE this winter season.

In 2017, IB transported 438,588 pax to MEX and more than 441,000 pax to EZE, an increase of 6.6% and 10.8% versus 2016. Including the flights operated under the Level brand, there were more than half a million pax to EZE.

Given this, I assume the A350's in 2018 will be for growth, not A346 replacement (+the 2x A332's to compensate for the ones flying under LVL). Otherwise I have trouble seeing how IB can manage its route network with the current fleet.

One thing is clear ...Iberia needs more airplanes to increase current capacity and to expand it current network with new destinations.
It doesn't make sense to keep buying new airplanes as a replacement of the current fleet without increasing the actual number of aircrafts.
I foresee that Iberia will be expanding its current fleet of short, medium and long haul airplanes as Iberia only possibility to be able to compete in this highly competitive world of commercial aviation.

Wow! 19 to 21 weekly services is quite a lot. MEX is certainly one of their main cash cows.

I wonder if some of the A350-1000s that IAG has ordered will eventually find their way to IB in order for it to have a larger plane to send to MEX, EZE, etc. This way they could offer more seats without needing additional slots.

EddieDude wrote:

Wow! 19 to 21 weekly services is quite a lot. MEX is certainly one of their main cash cows.

I wonder if some of the A350-1000s that IAG has ordered will eventually find their way to IB in order for it to have a larger plane to send to MEX, EZE, etc. This way they could offer more seats without needing additional slots.

It's possible some of the options could be converted to A350k orders.

ikolkyo wrote:

r2rho wrote:

Personally I hope the first 16 A359's are for growth, not A346 replacement. Otherwise that would mean no net new routes for IB, as the fleet is quite stretched as it is (plus losing 2 A330's to Level, which they will get back as new orders this year). The A346's recently got a new cabin, are paid off, and still quite useful in IB's deep LatAm network. They should stay until the end of their lives, then be replaced by the second batch of 16 A359's.

Iberia is indeed getting a new version of the a359 with many improvements.

http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebC ... mCysEtLei4

No surprise. IB was also first to receive the A333 with the latest MTOW boost, is among the last customers of the A332, and in general did not get the A330 until the very very latest MTOW boosts. Their route network utilizes every last bit of the payload range curve on many destinations.

Pretty sure DL got the first 242t A333

The IB A333s are likely at 238t with an active center line fuel tank.

Arion640 wrote:

EddieDude wrote:

Wow! 19 to 21 weekly services is quite a lot. MEX is certainly one of their main cash cows.

I wonder if some of the A350-1000s that IAG has ordered will eventually find their way to IB in order for it to have a larger plane to send to MEX, EZE, etc. This way they could offer more seats without needing additional slots.

It's possible some of the options could be converted to A350k orders.

I hope so. People from inside told me once that the 359 will be the replacement for the 343, the 35k for the 346 and the 333/332 adittional planes for growing.

Wot it’s cristal clear is that they need planes to keep on growing in places like NRT, Mex, EZE,SFO.....

I am sure that if Ibera (and BA) had more cojones thy should have ordered a dozen more A380 some years ago, and they would have been using at least 6 each to America. MEX is a big dumpster and its ready for (ONE) A380 at the time, but I bet if they had the A380 they would fly it here or to GRU or EZE, the market is there... I am sure they will fly the A350 to NRT and to MEX and EZE. The new MEX airport will surely change the playing field, and bigger metal will be more common at MEX, Iberia might use the A350 as a growth aircraft and to have the 3 class markets that they constantly fill $$$$.

It will be interesting the price of tickets this summer from MEX to Europe...

Best Regards

TRB

Kadish wrote:

Arion640 wrote:

EddieDude wrote:

Wow! 19 to 21 weekly services is quite a lot. MEX is certainly one of their main cash cows.

I wonder if some of the A350-1000s that IAG has ordered will eventually find their way to IB in order for it to have a larger plane to send to MEX, EZE, etc. This way they could offer more seats without needing additional slots.

And

It's possible some of the options could be converted to A350k orders.

I hope so. People from inside told me once that the 359 will be the replacement for the 343, the 35k for the 346 and the 333/332 adittional planes for growing.

Wot it’s cristal clear is that they need planes to keep on growing in places like NRT, Mex, EZE,SFO.....

But the A343 have long been gone from IB's fleet. The A333 & 332 combo replaced them.

IB's A359 will arrive in a high density configuration, with a similar capacity to the existing A346.

dcajet wrote:

Kadish wrote:

Arion640 wrote:

And

It's possible some of the options could be converted to A350k orders.

I hope so. People from inside told me once that the 359 will be the replacement for the 343, the 35k for the 346 and the 333/332 adittional planes for growing.

Wot it’s cristal clear is that they need planes to keep on growing in places like NRT, Mex, EZE,SFO.....

But the A343 have long been gone from IB's fleet. The A333 & 332 combo replaced them.

IB's A359 will arrive in a high density configuration, with a similar capacity to the existing A346.

The 332/3 came earlier cause they were the only one available. And in a similar configuration than the 343
The 359 and 346 u r right more or less the same.

London always makes sense for the first route so that crew gets trained and becomes familiar with airplane. Usually they will also do some flights to the Canary Islands to do the training as well.
According to La Vanguardia (but also on Iberia's website now) the first A350 will arrive in June and will fly to London for training. JFK will be the long haul route starting in August.
Sorry, only in Spanish
http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/201801 ... junio.html

And here we waiting the date for the first flight to LHR........that day will be awesome for the reservation center and the aviation fans here in Spain ¡¡¡¡