GERMANY: Eurowings To Fire 300 Staff At Head-Office

Eurowings, the low-cost airline owned by Lufthansa , said it would cut a third of the jobs at its headquarters as part of wider efforts to return the German airline group to profitability after a major state bailout.

We have around 1,000 staff at head office and of those we will reduce 300, Eurowings Chief Executive Jens Bischof told a briefing in Duesseldorf.

Germany threw Lufthansa a 9 billion euro ($9.8 billion) lifeline on Monday, agreeing a bailout which gives Berlin a veto in the event of a hostile bid for the airline.

Bischof, in remarks did not give figures for job reductions in other operational areas at Eurowings, which employs a total of around 4,000 staff.

He said the outcome would depend on negotiations with staff representatives and how work is allocated in future between Lufthansa and Eurowings. It would likely take until 2023 before activity returns to last year's levels.

GERMAN airline Eurowings is reactivating its base in Spain holiday island Mallorca in another good sign for the recovery of the Balearic Island tourism sector.

The airline, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, will be taking off from Mallorca capital Palma next Saturday June 27 with a flight to German city Hannover following a break of some three months due to the Covid-19 crisis.

The company will be operating more than 50 flights a week from Palma, going up to nearly 170 by the end of July, with connections to 16 airports in Germany and Austria.

To begin with Eurowings will operate with two A-320 aircraft stationed at Palma’s Son San Joan airport, going up to three over the summer

We are very pleased that Eurowings Europe is able to take off again, commented Eurowings Europe Managing Director Robert Jahn.

He also thanked company employees, who he said had had to endure a lot of uncertainty and show staying power in the past weeks.

Eurowings will take off again at the end of June with its international flight operation Eurowings Europe. The first flight after a break of around three months will take place on 27 June at 07:45 from Palma to Hanover.

With the reopening of the Mallorca base, Eurowings is underlining its position as Germany’s largest holiday airline. With the additional aircraft stationed on the Balearic island, Eurowings is operating a flight schedule that supplements numerous Mallorca connections at major Eurowings locations such as Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne/Bonn with additional destinations in Germany and Austria.

Eurowings primarily operates flights from Mallorca to Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Hanover, Leipzig, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Munich, Munster-Osnabruck, Nuremberg and Saarbrucken. In Austria, Eurowings connects Salzburg and Innsbruck with Mallorca.

With the beginning of the summer holidays in some German federal states, Eurowings will again offer more than 50 Mallorca flights per week. During the peak holiday season from the end of July, the number of flights will then increase to 168 weekly Mallorca flights.

A total of 16 airports in Germany and Austria will then be connected to Mallorca with Eurowings again. The airline had opened its first location in non-German-speaking countries in 2017 on Mallorca.

Eurowings thus became the leading carrier for flights to Mallorca to Germany and Austria.

With the end of the worldwide travel warning and the lifting of travel restrictions for Spain, customer interest in sunny destinations is growing by leaps and bounds. Therefore the airline has decided to reactivate its crews based in Palma.

Eurowings Europe will initially start operations with two Airbus A320s and increase to three aircraft over the summer. The airline also operates additional international stations for Eurowings in Salzburg (Austria) and Pristina (Kosovo).

We are very pleased that Eurowings Europe is able to take off again, said Robert Jahn, Managing Director of Eurowings Europe. I would like to thank our guests for their patience and understanding during this difficult phase.

And I would especially like to thank our Eurowings Europe team, who had to endure a lot of uncertainty and show staying power in the past weeks.

We are all the more pleased that we can now start again and be there for our holiday guests.

Mallorca is booming with Eurowings, which uses A330 wide-body to Palma Airport.

Eurowings is offering more than 160 additional flights by Airbus A330 from Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf over the next three months.

Eurowings is strengthening its position as Germany’s largest holiday airline. The Lufthansa subsidiary is expanding its route portfolio in the direction of South-East Europe and will be flying to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast on a large scale for the first time in summer 2020.

The two new up-and-coming holiday destinations being offered are Varna and Burgas.

Flights will be available from six German airports from 6 July. In addition to the major Eurowings stations in Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart, the airports of Munich, Hanover and Leipzig will also be directly connected to the Bulgarian coast from July.

The airline’s programme will then include more than 20 weekly flights to Burgas and Varna. Among the European sunshine destinations, Bulgaria is becoming the new holiday favourite for inexpensive summer holidays, both for families and for the younger public.

SCOTLAND: Loganair To Commence Glasgow To Düsseldorf Flights From 31st March 2019

Loganair, Scotland’s National Airline, has announced its first destination in Germany. From the 31st of March 2019, the airline will start daily flights from Glasgow (GLA) to Düsseldorf (DUS), Germany’s third busiest airport.

The airline will be taking over the daily route from Eurowings, which will ax it from their network effective the 30th March 2019. Loganair’s timing for the launch means the route will be continued without any disruption.

Loganair has stepped in to preserve the GLA-DUS and will use it as a stepping stone for future expansion into Europe.

The airline’s move has also helped safeguard jobs supported by the route, as Düsseldorf remains an important region for businesses between Scotland and Germany.

The route also secures the continuation of incoming German tourists from Düsseldorf to Scotland, as well as supporting many industries like tourism, food & drink, hospitality, energy, trade, and telecoms.

The airline plans to operate the service with its first Embraer 145, which was transferred from parent company BMI Regional. The airframe G-SAJC (Ex G-RJXF) was delivered to the Scottish Airline on the 17th of December 2018.

The flight will depart Glasgow at 10:20 and will arrive into Dusseldorf at 13:10 Local Time. The return flight will depart Dusseldorf at 13:50 Local Time, arriving back into Glasgow at 14:40.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s Managing Director, noted how the airline’s new Düsseldorf route is Loganair’s first foray into Germany, heralding another significant milestone for the airline as our reach extends into continental Europe.

We’re now able to carry passengers further and faster since adding Embraer 145 jets into the fleet, an important development for international travel, he said.

The coming months are set to be an exciting period for Loganair, as we continue to provide excellent service to customers in our Scottish heartlands while setting our sights into Europe.

Paul White, Head of Aviation at Glasgow Airport admitted that Loganair’s decision to introduce its first route to Germany is a landmark moment for the airline and welcome news for Glasgow Airport.

He added, Düsseldorf continues to be a popular destination and this new service from Scotland’s airline will provide our passengers with an even greater choice.

The introduction of the daily service to this fantastic city will also further strengthen our strong links with Germany, which currently includes routes to Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich.

Loganair passengers will also be able to enjoy a vast train and airline network at Düsseldorf. It is unclear, however, whether the Scottish carrier will seek further relationships with airlines as far as codeshare is concerned.

Overall, it is great to see Loganair with yet another significant announcement after winning the Prestigious European Region Airline of the Year award, on top of this it recently announced a codeshare with Qatar Airways, as well as taking over the Isle of Man route, on behalf of British Airways from Eastern Airways at the end of Summer 2018.

Meanwhile, Travelers can look forward to flights connecting Carlisle and the Lake District with the South East of England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from June 4, with Carlisle Lake District Airport (CLDA) unveiling Loganair, Scotland’s Airline, as its airline partner today.

Loganair will operate eight flights per-day across the working week and a total of 12 at weekends, connecting Cumbria and the Lake District, which receives 45 million visitors per year, to London Southend Airport, Belfast City Airport and Dublin Airport.

The routes will go on sale from Monday 12 March, with all services commencing on 4 June when CLDA plans to launch commercial and business passenger flights for the first time since 1993.

Kate Willard, head of corporate projects at Stobart Group, said: “Stobart Group is committed to delivering a brilliant air travel experience across the UK and Ireland. We are therefore delighted to be announcing flights with Loganair connecting London, Belfast and Dublin with Carlisle and the Lake District.

“There is huge demand from London, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to visit Carlisle, which is home to major businesses and serves as a gateway to the Lake District, two UNSCO World Heritage Sites and South Scotland.”

The route to Dublin also offers additional connectivity ease to travellers as they will be able to clear US immigration checks in the comfort of Dublin Airport at Terminal 2 – meaning they will land State side as a hassle free domestic passenger.

Jonathan Hinkles, managing director of Loganair, said: “We’re delighted to become the first operator at the new Carlisle Lake District Airport, and will be opening up Loganair’s services to a whole new range of customers. With frequent services on each of the three routes, we have every confidence that these new flights will transform access to and from the Lake District for many thousands of customers each year.”

Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: “The new flights from Carlisle Lake District Airport will be a major boost for Cumbria’s connectivity and our £2.72billion tourism industry.

“We welcomed 45 million visitors to the county last year, but a large proportion were day trippers to the Lakes. Our marketing strategy has a key focus on encouraging visitors to stay in the county as a whole.

“New flights though Carlisle will create alternative travel options and Cumbria Tourism is working in partnership with the Airport to encourage new and existing visitors to enjoy more of our iconic landscapes and world-class experiences.”

Nigel Wilkinson, board member of the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The opening up of new air routes into Cumbria, providing more direct access to attractions and the county’s newest UNESCO World Heritage site, is a boost for the visitor economy here.

Cumbria LEP is contributing £4.95m to help the airport improve its runway and terminal, an important investment which will enable flights to and from Carlisle and provide wider global access via international hubs.”

John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, said:
“I am excited by the new flights to and from Carlisle Lake District Airport and what they will mean for Carlisle and the surrounding area.

“It is vital that we have the infrastructure to support taking our local economy to the next level. The development of Carlisle Lake District Airport will have a huge impact on our ability to grow economically.

Many local businesses will be able to expand as a result of these new flights and it will also encourage other businesses to choose Cumbria as a viable location.

“Not only will businesses benefit from an increased level of connectivity in and out of Cumbria, but it will also encourage holiday makers to choose Cumbria, the Borders and the Lake District as an attractive destination as journey times will be reduced by the introduction of commercial flights.”

James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, said: “I am delighted that Carlisle Lake District Airport plans to launch commercial and business flights on 4 June.

The routes mean that the South East and London will be much better connected to Cumbria and the Lake District, which will be boost the economies of both regions and drive tourism, John Stevenson MP and myself hope to lead business delegations from both areas to increase links between them over the next few years.

“I look forward, in particular, to seeing the Rochford and the Southend business community benefiting from this new and exciting connection to the North of England.”

Tourism Observer

SLOVENIA: Maribor Airport To Open Doors Soon

Despite a 2015 infrastructure overhaul worth EUR 17m, the long hoped for rebirth of the country's second largest airport in Maribor failed to occur in 2016.

The operator, Aerodrom Maribor, which is in the process of getting a new owner, even recorded a halving of passenger figures, but freight transport has grown.

Aerodrom Maribor has failed to secure a regular route for the state-owned airport, but CEO Ladimir Brolih remains confident that things will improve. He told the STA that ties had been forged this year with a number of important carriers that had recognised the airport's potential.

The operator of Edvard Rusjan Airport, which got a new terminal in 2012 and has also had its old terminal renovated, has already seen the first results of its promotion campaign for the region.

Brolih said that coordination of the tourism interests of the region was not the company's primary task, but the company was aware that the airport cannot prosper without a joint effort of the local tourism firms.

He reiterated that it would be easier to lay down future development plans once a long-term agreement is reached as regards the relationship with the state, which has granted the operator a temporary as opposed to a long-term licence for the airport's infrastructure.

Brolih argued that the current situation was making it harder to negotiate with carriers and other potential partners.

Aerodrom Maribor expects total passenger number to rise to around 11,000 by the end of the year, which means a more than 50% drop compared to 2015. In its heyday in the early 1990s, the annual passenger figures at the airport stood at around 85,000.

Brolih attributed this year's slump to the refugee crisis, terrorist threats, and the failure to restore the regular route to London and start scheduled flights to Düsseldorf as planned.

The data for freight transport is more encouraging, with 230 tonnes expected by the end of the year, which would be a 30% improvement on 2015.

The CEO announced Aerodrom Maribor would apply to the call for a long-term operating licence expected in December, while a contribution to the development of the airport is also expected from the new owner.

Aerodrom Maribor has been owned since late 2014 by Delavska hranilnica, a union-controlled savings bank, which announced in June this year it had found a buyer but has still not disclosed the name.

While reports have been indicating that Chinese capital might be involved, Mayor of Maribor Andrej Fištravec spoke of an international consortium which has already made a down payment. The mayor expects the deal could be concluded before the end of the year.

"As far as I know, the investor has a much wider approach in mind than only the airport," he told the STA, hinting at potential additional logistic and other services.

TUNISIA: Tunisia Received Over 600,000 Russian Tourists

Tunisian tourism authorities reported declining numbers of international visitors. From January to September 2016, the country’s tourist revenues declined by more than 8% compared to the same period in 2015, and by 34% compared with 2014, announced the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism.

The revenues amounted to 730 million euros, compared to 800 million euros in the first nine months of 2015. The number of overnight stays has increased slightly (14.84 million in 2016 compared to 14.01 million in 2015).

Tunisian tourism had a small turnaround with the stopover of a cruise ship in October in La Goulette, the first in over a year.

Meanwhile, the world’s number one travel company, the German tour operator Tui, announced on November 2, 2016 that it chartered Tunisair planes for weekly flights between Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Djerba. Tui will increase its accommodation capacity in Tunisia starting from the spring of 2017 with the opening of two hotels, in addition to the three facilities that it already owns.

Since the 2011 revolution, and especially the wave of terrorist attacks in 2015, the decline of the tourist industry alone cost Tunisia 3 points of GDP. Tourism declined by 35.1% in 2015, by 66% in six years.

After the last year attack in Tunis and then in Sousse, around a million people cancelled their tours in the country. Moreover, some 70 hotels had to close.

Today, however, Tunisian tourism stakeholders and local companies are trying to cope with the influx of Russian visitors – by the end of October there were 600,000 Russian visitors recorded, which is a tenfold growth over 2015.

The country focused mostly on non-Arab visitors like the French, Brits and Spaniards who came to spend their holiday in huge numbers. Thanks to the travel warnings following the attacks however, Tunisian tourism authorities needed to look elsewhere.

The sector benefited greatly from the Moscow’s travel restrictions for Egypt and Turkey, which had been the two most popular destinations for Russian travelers. Now, they had to find some alternative – Tunisia. Visa-free travel and low prices are the biggest draw for the Russian holidaymakers. Local companies expect continuing growth of their numbers.

Europe’s Most Competitive Airport Pairs and city pairs in S15 revealed

Pobeda became the latest carrier on the highly competitive city pair between Moscow and Sochi when it commenced services between Moscow Vnukovo and Sochi/Adler on 6 February. Aeroflot’s in-house LCC now serves the route with six daily flights. This summer, the link between Moscow and Sochi is the most highly competed route in Europe with a total of 10 carriers operating services between the two cities.

We look at several aspects such as aircraft type operated, weekly frequency, sector length and which other carriers may already be operating on the route. Typically around half of all new airlines services are on airport pairs that are not served by anyone else. (Coincidentally, out of 25 new services launched this week, 12 are already served by other carriers.) However, that means that around half of all new services are airlines entering a market already served by at least one other carrier. These existing carriers are not likely to take kindly to having their position challenged.

This got us wondering as to which were the most competitive routes within Europe, during the peak summer season, on both an airport pair and city pair basis. At this point the anna.aero data elves let out a big sigh and got to work to see what they could uncover. For summer we used the first week of August in 2015. When attaching airports to cities we used the IATA recommended allocations for the following 16 cities: Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Istanbul, London, Milan, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tenerife, Venice and Warsaw.

German airports to Antalya dominate summer airport pairs ranking
For this summer the following table reveals the airport pairs served by the highest number of airlines. Routes to Antalya from German airports appear five times among the top eight, with Cologne Bonn and Düsseldorf to Antalya both offering flights on eight different airlines. Two more ‘summer sun’ routes also appear in the rankings; Düsseldorf to Heraklion and Manchester to Palma de Mallorca. The final route is the Italian domestic link between Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa.

Moscow – Sochi/Adler most competitive city pair
If instead of considering airport pairs we examine city pairs within Europe, the most competitive markets now include a large number of markets from London. With six airports designated as serving the UK capital (Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Southend and Stansted) it’s no surprise that London routes now feature prominently. However, only one city pair can beat the eight carriers between Cologne Bonn and Antalya, and Düsseldorf and Antalya as reported earlier in this analysis. And it does not involve London. Instead it is the Russian domestic route between Moscow and Sochi/Adler, which according to OAG Schedules Analyser data had a total of 10 different carriers serving the market this August.

Two other Moscow routes also appear with seven competing airlines. Moscow is served by three airports; Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo. Seven city pairs involving London are served by seven carriers; four in Spain, two in Greece and one each in Cyprus and Italy.

GERMANY: Lufthansa Is The Sixth Largest Airline In The World

When measured in ASKs, Lufthansa is the sixth largest airline in the world, beaten only by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Emirates, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines when considering this week’s operations (using OAG Schedules Analyser data). Looking back to S06 using this metric, the German national carrier was still in sixth spot, but was the #2 in Europe, behind American, United, Delta, Continental Airlines and British Airways. The Star Alliance carrier’s main base has been Frankfurt Airport for decades, as it is today. It currently commands 67% frequency share at Germany’s largest and Europe’s third largest hub, a figure that has gradually improved (or worsened depending on your views on control of slots at hubs) over the last 10 years, having been 61% in September 2006.

Matching this recent increase in dominance at Frankfurt are the airline’s number of weekly frequencies and destinations. Our data elves thought that the step-change in weekly frequencies (up to around 3,000) and points served (up to over 160) which was observed in 2011 was due to the airport opening its fourth runway. However, this piece of infrastructure did not ‘officially’ open until October 2011 (we know that because we were there), which might mean that the runway’s capacity was being utilised before (our data is looking at week commencing 22 September) the ‘official’ opening on 21 October. Answers on a postcard please to the Editor…
Domestic market dominates

This summer, Lufthansa operates to 67 country markets from its main hub, one more than in the same week last year ‒ gaining Iceland, with Reykjavik/Keflavik thrice-weekly services having launched on 2 May ‒ and significantly more than its southern German hub in Munich, which, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data, by comparison offers just 47 country markets in S15. Capacity to Lufthansa’s second biggest country market (as measured by seats) ‒ the US ‒ has been enhanced this week, with the start of a Lufthansa CityLine/Jump-operated five times weekly route to Tampa on 25 September.

While at many European airports, and indeed at the continent’s main hubs, domestic capacity would appear to be being replaced (and forced onto alternative land-based modes) with more lucrative international and intercontinental flying, this does not appear to be the case for Lufthansa at Frankfurt. In the last 12 months, it has added another 1.7% more seat capacity into its domestic routes, seeing it pass the 100,000 weekly seats mark. Capacity within Germany therefore remains at a healthy 18.5% of all seats offered by Lufthansa at its main hub, no doubt underlining the importance of home-market feed for the airline.

Demark, which has witnessed a 16% increase in seats since last September (partly thanks to the launch of services to Aalborg at the start of the summer season), has replaced Russia within the airline’s top 12 country markets, with the latter seeing a 32% culling of weekly seats as the frosty political and economic relations continue. Poland also produced double digit growth (10%) in the last year, due in part to a new four times weekly service to Bydgoszcz, launched on 29 March. The market experiencing the most significant fall in capacity is France (down 4.5%), which when combined with Spain’s 7.3% increase, has seen the latter leapfrog the former into fifth spot behind the UK.
Paris CDG feels the pinch

Lufthansa’s capacity to Europe’s second largest airport and competing hub at Paris CDG has been reduced from the levels planned a year ago, with nearly 11% fewer seats available. Rome Fiumicino encountered the next largest drop in offered seats, with a 5.2% annual decline. At the other end of the scale, three airports mustered double-digit increases over the same period, led by Brussels (+13%), and closely followed by London Heathrow (+11.3%) and Hamburg (+10.9%). The top 12 routes in September 2015 represented 26% of all of Lufthansa’s Frankfurt capacity, up marginally from the 25.7% recorded in 2014.

Hannover drops out of the top 12, only to be replaced by another domestic connection to Düsseldorf, which was 15th in the 2014 listing. The biggest route for Lufthansa outside of Europe is now Shanghai Pudong, in 15th position overall. Despite annual seat growth of less than 1% since last September, the Chinese route has climbed from 17th spot it held in 2014, jumping ahead of last year’s biggest non-European route – New York JFK – which due to its 4% seat reduction has fallen from 16th to 17th. However, the 12% increase in weekly seats offered by Lufthansa to Los Angeles from its Frankfurt hub has seen it draw level with JFK, as both airports have a seven-day capacity of 6,111 seats.

In terms of ASKs Lufthansa’s top 10 routes from Frankfurt are dominated by US destinations, which feature six times. Los Angeles and Shanghai Pudong lead the way (both served double-daily) with almost 50% more ASKs than third-placed New York JFK. Rounding out the top 10 are Singapore, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Johannesburg, Seoul and Boston.
Luxembourg and Nairobi next

Looking ahead to what is left of 2015 and onto 2016, Lufthansa is planning to launch two further routes from its Frankfurt hub this October. After a 16-year hiatus in services, a four times weekly route to Nairobi ‒ operated again by its CityLine/Jump subsidiary ‒ is planned from 25 October, and on the same day the carrier will commence four daily flights to Luxembourg. In addition, CityLine/Jump-operated twice-weekly, A340-300 services to Cancún (8 December), Malé (9 December) and Mauritius (10 December) will be launched later in the year, with five times weekly services to Panama City pencilled-in for 2 March 2016.

SPAIN: Iberia Express Grows By 8.4% From Madrid Since Last Year;

Iberia Express launched its latest route to the UK from Madrid on the 8 September in the form of a thrice-weekly service to Manchester, a sector that will then operate twice-weekly from the end of October for the remainder of W15/16. The carrier, a subsidiary of Spain’s national carrier, Iberia, also serves Edinburgh and London Gatwick from the Spanish capital, with the airline also serving London Heathrow from other Spanish airports.

Iberia Express was set up on 6 October 2011 by IAG, and commenced its first flight operations on 25 March 2012. The main intention of the airline was to operate European routes that were unprofitable when flown by mainline Iberia, and to make them viable by the new carrier operating the sectors with lower running costs. In its short history, Iberia Express has become the fourth biggest airline to fly from Madrid, with over 6 million passengers having flown and 50,000 flights operated within the carrier’s first two years of operation. In 2013, a report by FlightStats confirmed that Iberia Express tops all other European airlines in terms of punctuality. The airline operates an all-A320 fleet, of which a majority have been passed to the company from mainline Iberia.

Iberia Express is Madrid’s #4 largest carrier
Iberia Express remains the fourth largest airline from Madrid (highlighted in Iberia Express colours in the table above) in S15, the same position it held last year. What is interesting to note however is that mainline Iberia (highlighted in Iberia colours), the number one carrier from the Spanish capital, has seen a greater growth in seat capacity in the past 12 months of 9.5% when compared with that of Iberia Express’ 8.3%. Overall, Iberia Express occupies 7.8% of seat capacity from Madrid, down only 0.1% from the 7.9% which it occupied last year, a result of Madrid seeing two additional carriers operating services from the facility according to OAG.

Tenerife North overtakes Santiago de Compostela
After reporting a growth in seat capacity over the past 12 months of 9.8%, the 1,770-kilometre sector to Tenerife North overtakes Santiago de Compostela to become the carrier’s number one route from its Madrid hub, although the latter is also reporting growth of 3.3% in seat capacity. Since last year, three new airports have entered the top 12 when compared to the same time period of 2014 (highlighted in light green), with Frankfurt (no longer served by Iberia Express), Malaga and Tenerife South no longer being in the top 12. London Gatwick goes straight into the top 12 at ninth spot, tied with Berlin Tegel, after the airline launched services to the airport from the Spanish capital on 28 March according to OAG, operating with an 11 times weekly frequency. Also joining the top 12 party from Madrid are Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, two routes which have both been operated by Iberia Express since the airline commenced service.

Destinations double since operations commenced
Iberia Express in 2012 served a total of 16 destinations from Madrid, this number has now risen to 31 destinations in 2015. From the destination split, the majority of routes served are Spanish domestic services. Of the international country markets served by Iberia Express from Madrid, the average amount of airports served is two. This shows the importance of the Spanish domestic market within Iberia Express’ operation, a market that faces strong competition from ULCC Ryanair. Soon Iberia Express will face strong competition from Norwegian, which is planning to start domestic services to Gran Canaria and Tenerife North during the start of W15/16 season from the Spanish capital. The latest route launched by Iberia Express from Madrid was to Manchester on 8 September.

Services operated alongside mainline Iberia
An analysis of OAG Schedules Analyser data for September 2015 reveals that only three routes of Iberia Express’ operation from Madrid are operated alongside mainline Iberia operations. The destinations are Athens, Düsseldorf and Gran Canaria.

Iberia Express currently has no new routes planned for S16 from its Madrid hub, and it is also worth noting that neither does mainline Iberia, making it interesting to think as to what cities will be the next destinations for the subsidiary. When looking at Iberia Express’ route map (as shown below), we can see that there is a very even geographical spread in relation to the location of western European airports served by the carrier, with key capital cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, London and Paris being served from Madrid. Of the international routes served from Madrid, eight are capital cities. In relation to the potential future routes for Iberia Express, the main focus will possibly be the transfer of services from mainline Iberia to Express which could potential include Brussels, Budapest (launched 2 June), Florence, Hamburg, Milan (Linate or Malpensa), and Rome Fiumicino.

In relation to new routes for the Iberia group that have the potential to be served under the Express brand, one could be Oslo Gardermoen, a European capital currently not served by mainline and is currently only served by Norwegian. With Iberia Express having oneworld alliance advantages opening up connections to Latin and South America, it would give them the edge over Norwegian on the sector. Another potential destination would be Helsinki, which is currently served by fellow oneworld member Finnair. It is worth noting though that LCC Norwegian also operates to the Finnish capital.

Within the domestic network, the key route most likely to be transferred from mainline is Barcelona. With this lucrative domestic route seeing strong declines in traffic since the development of high speed rail, the national carrier may want to reduce costs on the city pair by using the Express model to help increase profit margins, operating alongside Vueling. Other potential domestic routes that could be switched from mainline to Express include A Coruña, Asturias and Santander.

As of September 2015, Iberia Express’s destinations consist of 14 domestic and 18 international airports. All flights depart, arrive and connect in Madrid, except for the following routes: Vigo-Tenerife North, Asturias-Tenerife North, Tenerife North-London Heathrow, Tenerife North-Lyon and Gran Canaria-London Heathrow.