Iberia

History of Iberia

Iberia was formally founded on 28 June 1927 and opened its first commercial route, Madrid to Barcelona, on 14 December that year. After the Spanish Civil War it rebuilt as the national carrier, and in 1946 it became the first airline to offer a regular post-war service between Europe and South America, flying to Buenos Aires. The first Madrid to New York flight followed on 3 August 1954.

Iberia entered the jet age with DC-8s in 1961 and took its first Boeing 747 in 1970. In 1987 it was one of four European airlines that founded Amadeus, now one of the largest GDS providers. It launched the Iberia Plus frequent flyer programme in 1991, joined oneworld on 1 September 1999 and completed its privatisation with a stock market listing on 3 April 2001.

In 2011 Iberia merged with British Airways under International Airlines Group. Iberia Express, a short and medium-haul subsidiary, followed in 2012. In 2019 Iberia and British Airways reached IATA NDC@Scale, and Iberia became one of the first airlines to sell some fares only through NDC.

Fleet

Aircraft types in service as of 2026

Iberia's mainline fleet is all Airbus, with A350-900s and A330s on long-haul routes and the A321XLR for longer, thinner routes. Iberia Express flies A320ceos and A321neos, and the regional Iberia brand operated by Air Nostrum uses CRJ-200, CRJ-1000 and ATR 72-600 aircraft. Iberia Group says it has 167 aircraft, though the page does not date this figure.

Network and hubs

Madrid-Barajas, where Iberia has run all operations from Terminal 4 since 2006, is the hub of its network. Iberia's strongest long-haul market is Latin America, alongside North America and routes to Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Iberia Group lists 143 destinations. Short-haul feed comes from Iberia Express and the regional Iberia brand flown by Air Nostrum, and Iberia takes part in IAG's transatlantic joint business with British Airways, American Airlines and Finnair.