Iberia to Increase Flight Frequencies from Boston and Washington-Dulles

MADRID, Spain, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting in mid-June 2008, Iberia Airlines will operate daily flights from Boston-Logan and five weekly flights from Washington-Dulles to Madrid, scheduled specifically to provide the best connections with other Iberia destinations in Spain, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. This way Iberia, which is the only scheduled airline offering non-stop flights between the two cities, significantly increases its presence in United States as of last May. Currently, Iberia operates three flights per week from/to each of these destinations.

Flights from Boston depart at 18:20 and arrive in Madrid at 07:20 on the following morning. Flights to Boston depart Madrid at 13:25 and arrive at 15:40. Flights depart Washington at 20:50 and arrive in Madrid at 10:10 the following morning. Flights to Washington depart Madrid at 16:35 and land in Washington at 19:20.

Iberia already flies to Madrid from Miami, New York, Chicago and, under code-sharing arrangements with American Airlines, from another 18 U.S. destinations. The Spanish airline transported 845,000 passengers to and from the USA in 2007, 21% more than the year before. Load factor was almost 85%.

Iberia flies the state-of-the-art wide-body Airbus A-340s on these routes, which are equipped with the lavish Business Plus seating class, offering, among other things, specially designed seats that become completely flat beds. Iberia also offers four VIP lounges in Terminal 4, which are among the best in the world, and allow smooth and comfortable connections for Iberia's Business Plus customers.

Iberia is the airline with the most connections between the United States and Spain, with five direct flights from New York, Miami, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C. to Madrid. At Iberia's hub in the new ultra-modern Terminal 4, Madrid's Barajas airport, passengers arriving from the United States can connect to another 35 Spanish cities, such as Barcelona, Bilbao, or Seville; to any of the 40 destinations elsewhere in Europe reached by Iberia, including Lisbon, Paris, London, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, Rome, Venice, Geneva, Zurich, Athens and Moscow; or to 10 cities in Africa and the Middle East.

Today, Iberia is Spain's leading airline and also leader on routes linking Europe with Latin America. It posted an operating income of 5.522 billion euros, net earnings of 327.6 million euros and an EBITDAR of 932 million euros in 2007. It is also distinguished by its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible conduct. Along with its franchise partner Iberia Regional, Iberia operates some 1,000 flights each day to about 100 different destinations. Last year, Iberia carried a total of 32.5 million passengers. It is a member of the oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, JAL, LAN, Malev, Qantas and Royal Jordanian.

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