We might be in the depths of the winter timetable, but Iberia is planning its own winter 2024 timetable, with the airline planning to return to Tokyo.
Iberia Airbus A350-900 – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The airline will add a three-times-a-week service between Madrid and Tokyo Narita, based on the following timetable:
IB0281 DEPART MAD 12:00 ARRIVE NRT 10:10+1 IB0282 DEPART NRT 12:20 ARRIVE MAD 20:20 Commences 27th October 2024 from Madrid IB281 operates on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Madrid IB282 operates on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays from Tokyo Booked Equipment: Airbus A350-900
Iberia will use an Airbus A350-900 on this route, configured for 31 seats in Business Class, 24 seats in Premium Economy and 293 seats in Economy Class – for a total of 330 seats.
The planned route to Tokyo will be to only direct option to Japan at the time of writing, offering over 45,000 seats during the winter season.
As an operational quirk, due to the closure of Russian airspace, the flight path to Tokio has been adjusted. Given the critical role of winds in route planning, customers flying round-trip with Iberia will do a round-the-world trip, as the outbound from Madrid to Tokyo will be done across the south and the inbound across the north, above Russia, across the Pacific Ocean and the Artic.
For those who can plan, lead-in prices start at €931 return.
In Quotes
María Jesús López Solás, Iberia’s Commercial and Network Development and Alliances Director said:
“Our return to Tokyo is remarkable news. It represents the return of Iberia to Japan, where it began operations in 1986, and together with the recently launched direct flights to Doha, it confirms our commitment to Asia. The economic growth of the countries in this continent is immense, as indicated by all the forecasts for the coming decades. At Iberia, we want to show Madrid’s potential as a gateway to Spain, the rest of Europe, and Latin America, to connect these two parts of the world.”
A slightly overdue return
Iberia started connecting to Japan in 1986, with a service that stopped in Barcelona and Mumbai. This changed as technology improved, with Airbus A340 and Boeing 747s plying the route with direct flights until 1998. The airline returned to Japan in 2016 until 2020, when the pandemic put a halt to operations.
Since then, Iberia has played the waiting game, waiting for demand to return to allow the route to operate again.
The airline has not been without connectivity – but it has required its passengers to connect elsewhere as part of the Siberian Joint Business (an agreement between Iberia, Japan Airlines, British Airways and Finnair, covering connectivity between Japan and Europe.
With traffic beginning to pick up between Europe and Asia, Iberia seems to be ready to capitalise on the growing market. Hopefully, the airline hasn’t left it too late, for others to make hay…
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Kudos to Iberia for this Tokyo flight. Now they need to add MAD-JNB.