Iberia CEO says now is the time to invest and expand

Iberia is leading the recovery at International Airlines Group (IAG). The carrier continues to outperform its group peers in terms of the financial recovery, but CEO Javier Sánchez-Prieto does not see that as a signal to rest on his laurels as the industry emerges from the Covid-19. “It’s a turning point for us post-pandemic. It’s time to invest, it’s time to take some risk,” he said in Washington, D.C., on June 2. Sánchez-Prieto arrived the day before on Iberia’s inaugural flight to Washington Dulles, a destination that the airline had planned to launch in May 2020 but was forced to postpone due to the pandemic. A big part of that investment is expanding Iberia’s map. In addition to Washington, the airline is adding flights to Dallas-Fort Worth, Heraklion, Greece, and Nador, Morocco, this year, according to Cirium schedules. The new US routes benefit from Iberia’s joint venture with American Airlines. US capacity will be up 14 percent compared to 2019 this year. But the long-term focus for Iberia remains transforming Madrid into a “360-degree” hub — or one with connections in all directions, and not just between Europe and the Americas — Sánchez-Prieto said.<br/>