Iberia Express

[Aviador]

New thread for Iberia Express who have announced flights to Madrid initially flying twice weekly.
#MadridfromCardiff #Iberiaexpress

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Now that's the sort of news that CWL needs - a new airline for the airport from a major airline group.

I note that initially it will operate at Easter next year and then from June to September. The next step up will be to ensure the route is supported by passengers so that routes like this can operate year-round. It's known that CWL can support summer routes, especially to the sun, but it has to start along the path of becoming a 12-months-a-year airport.

 

[Tinkerman]

Excellent news, just the news that CWL needs (Agreeing with Local above). 2x weekly is a great start for this service, and i duly hope that the travelling public will take this route up and use it ! It is great for CWL to have attracted Iberia Express to the airport. No doubt VY's success playing some kind of role in this.

MAD is a great destination in it's own right, and with the support that BCN had initially at 2x weekly, then i'd like to see MAD given the same kind of treatment, plus the fact that the connectivity at MAD with Iberia is great !

 

[Jerry]

Great news! Great to see a new airline and a new destination at CWL!
It's also great that the Champions League final may have been a factor in attracting this new route as apart from the flights in April the first flight in June is 2 days before it! It's made me think that IAG are thinking ahead and have made a contingency plan in case Real Madrid or Athletico or both get to the final. And now as a scheduled airline to CWL if a Madrid team gets to the final then Iberia will be able to fly as many flights as they want into CWL over that weekend and potentially can avoid BRS if they get nominated for Madrid team flights. Here's to a El Classico final!
It also means if neither teams get to the final they get to try out over the summer season a new destination and test the waters for CWL flights. Really hope this is a success!

 

[marsh.ger]

I would like to point one thing to the above.

Cardiff Airport will be heavily slot restrained around the Champions League Final in Cardiff and in exception to the normal day to day scheduled services all additional flight pairs will be at a first come first serve basis.

There is a potential loophole which Vueling utilised during the Super Cup Final that maybe at Iberia Express disposal. This is that UEFA are likely to impose restrictions to charter flights and will nominate which sets of fans will be able to use Cardiff Airport. Vueling avoided this by operating a series of scheduled services from Seville which aparently was out of the control of UEFA. (Any airline coud potentially do the same whether they fly regularly from Cardiff or not.

What the UEFA Champions League will do on the other hand will provide great publicity for the service if a Madrid team reaches the final.

 

[Jerry]

There is a potential loophole which Vueling utilised during the Super Cup Final that maybe at Iberia Express disposal. This is that UEFA are likely to impose restrictions to charter flights and will nominate which sets of fans will be able to use Cardiff Airport. Vueling avoided this by operating a series of scheduled services from Seville which aparently was out of the control of UEFA. (Any airline coud potentially do the same whether they fly regularly from Cardiff or not.

Yes i believe that was part of the bid. The FAW's bid needed 2 airports 1 for each teams fans. I believe an exception is made for an airline that is already operating scheduled flights into the airport. So Vueling and now Iberia would not be constrained. Whereas Norwegian or Air Europa would be.
One which would be interesting is to whether Ryanair would be constrained as they don't operate to CWL from Spain?
Another would be Air Berlin now would they also be constrained as they only operate a codeshare with Flybe?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bit of a so and so for CWL if the final is Manchester City v Arsenal. Thank you both for the information re UEFA's requirements.

 

[ethanegcc]

Great news for CWL. It really complements the current Vueling operation well and shows some commitment of IAG to the Welsh market. Well done Cardiff, although I am not quite sure if there is a Latin American connection market from Wales and MAD is not the most convenient connecting point for places such as DFW, LAX. I am sure o&d traffic could support the route alone however.

 

[Jerry]

Great news for CWL. It really complements the current Vueling operation well and shows some commitment of IAG to the Welsh market. Well done Cardiff, although I am not quite sure if there is a Latin American connection market from Wales and MAD is not the most convenient connecting point for places such as DFW, LAX. I am sure o&d traffic could support the route alone however.

Yes it is great to get a new airline as well as a new route at CWL! The last couple of weeks we've been spoilt for new routes! Lets hope it continues!

 

[ethanegcc]

Two weekly is also the perfect frequency to begin with, perhaps increasing to 3/4 weekly in summer once the route is established. What is the launch date?

 

[Jerry]

Two weekly is also the perfect frequency to begin with, perhaps increasing to 3/4 weekly in summer once the route is established. What is the launch date?

They are doing 2 flights at Easter then it starts Thursday 1st June. Bookable from tomorrow.

 

[Jerry]

Flight times for MAD

Thursday MAD-CWL 16.00-17.15
CWL-MAD 17.50-21.05

Sunday MAD-CWL 09.00-10.15
CWL-MAD 11.00-14.15

 

[superking]

flight times don't look good for a weekend break jerry.

 

[ethanegcc]

They would have been better having the morning departure on Friday and the late night on Sunday in my opinion, but nevertheless a great new route for CWL!

Do you think IB chose CWL over BRS because of VY's presence in CWL?

 

[Jerry]

flight times don't look good for a weekend break jerry.

No but if you reverse it then it's nice times for a Sunday to Thursday break in Madrid. Also if you added Barcelona into the trip as their is a high speed rail link between the 2 cities then you could fly back on Monday's BCN flight.
It's a start and if Real Madrid get to the Champions league final then a 11.00 return on Sunday would be a good time.

 

[Jerry]

They would have been better having the morning departure on Friday and the late night on Sunday in my opinion, but nevertheless a great new route for CWL!

Do you think IB chose CWL over BRS because of VY's presence in CWL?

I don't think they would want to clash with VY's BCN flight on the Friday. I think the VY connection did help in securing the route for CWL. Also I think EZY doing a daily flight on BRS-MAD might have put them off as well. If you look at BRS they don't have many mainline airlines possibly due to the large EZY presence.
Hopefully the good relationship the airport have with IAG might lead to One World airlines introducing new routes!

 

[Tinkerman]

For me, the flight times aren't really a problem. Thursday to Sunday works, as does Sunday to Thursday.

I believe they've set up a CWL route due to the success that VY has had with their routes here, especially BCN which is the same kind of route that Iberia Express are offering next year. EZY almost certainly deterred them from BRS, and i see this as a great capture for CWL.

If we can make MAD work with Iberia Express that would send out a huge 'CWL is open for business' message back out into the airline realms. My only concern however is that Iberia Express is another relatively unknown brand (to most of our catchment) and may need considerable support, to the tune of what VY had in the beginning to help get this route off the ground.

As ever though, it remains a great chance for CWL.

 

[Jerry]

I think they will have to promote it well. The easter flights may be a way to do that. Also i wonder if a certain Mr Gareth Bale could be used to promote the route? But the best thing to promote it will be Real Madrid getting to the Champions League final! Hopefully as well it might attract other mainline airlines as well.

 

[Jerry]

Flight dates for April. 6th, 9th, 13th and 16th April 2017.
Flight numbers
IB3686 MAD-CWL IB3687 CWL-MAD for both Thursday and Sunday.
Then it restarts on the 8th June and finishes on the 28th September twice weekly Thursday and Sunday.
It is not bookable on Iberia.com only Iberia Express.com so no connections to central and south america are available just Iberia Express connections.

 

[Jerry]

First scheduled flight Madrid today from Cardiff Airport with IB Express! Looking at the seat map for the CWL-MAD leg it looks like about 80 seats are occupied at the moment with 3 and a half hours till departure. Not too bad considering it's not Easter and it's a first flight to a city destination.