Iberia

Iberia was founded on June 28, 1927, and flew its first route, Madrid to Barcelona, that December. It became Spain's flag carrier, the airline that represents the country abroad. The state took it into the INI holding company in 1939. In 1946 Iberia became the first airline to link Europe and South America after World War II. A DC-4 flew the new route from Madrid to Buenos Aires.

That route set the course for everything after it. DC-8s and later 747s arrived, and Madrid-Barajas grew into the main doorway between Europe and Latin America. Iberia joined the oneworld alliance in 1999. An alliance is a group of airlines that connect their flights. The company was sold to private owners in 2001. In 2011 it merged with British Airways to form International Airlines Group, keeping its own name.

Iberia Express started in 2012 to feed Madrid cheaply, while sister airline Vueling works from Barcelona. A hard rebuild in the 2010s turned Iberia from a steady loss-maker into one of IAG's most profitable parts. It has often topped European punctuality rankings. New Airbus A350-900s and A330s renewed its long-haul fleet. It still leads the Europe to Latin America market by capacity, or seats offered.

Iberia flies around 140 aircraft, all built by Airbus. Long routes use A330-200s, A330-300s, and flagship A350-900s, with more A350s ordered to grow the Latin American network. The last A340s were retired in 2020.

From Madrid, shorter routes are flown by A319s, A320s, A320neos, A321s, and A321neos. Iberia was the world's first operator of the long-range A321XLR in 2024.

It sends the jet across the Atlantic to Boston and Washington. Iberia Express uses A320-family jets, and Air Nostrum flies CRJ regional planes as Iberia Regional.