dailynewsnblog
Iberia is not the largest airline serving Spain. Ryanair is, followed by Vueling. However, you’ll not be surprised to learn that Spain’s flag carrier is number one in Madrid. Some 46% of flights are controlled by the carrier, including those operated by its regional unit. It’d have risen to 62% if it acquired Air Europa, as it originally hoped to do.
Iberia ranks first for domestic flights from Madrid (62%), short-haul international services (41%), and long-haul (36%). As with any other hub operator, its domestic and short-haul markets play a critical role in feeding its long-haul activity, especially to/from the Americas.
This Is Iberia’s Longest Offering
All the data mentioned above and throughout this article is based on Iberia’s latest scheduled submission to OAG for April to December 2026. Analysis of its full long-haul network indicates that Tokyo Narita back to 
Madrid is its longest route by maximum block time, which is measured as chocks-off-to-chocks-on.
Served three to four times weekly in the examined period, it is timed at up to 15h 35m. This means it is the longest nonstop service between the Japanese capital and Europe. Of course, this block time is particularly high because Iberia, like so many carriers, has to avoid Russian airspace.
Generally, Flightradar24 data shows that flights to Tokyo fly through Central Asia, while those back to Madrid fly very far north, over Greenland. Earlier this year, flights back to Spain took up to 15h 50m—even longer than the block time.
Tokyo has been served by Iberia since 2016. While the A330-200 was initially deployed, the long route has been in the exclusive hands of the 348-seat A350-900 since the pandemic. This is the airline’s highest-capacity equipment. It has 31 fully flat seats in business (1-2-1), 24 seats in premium economy (2-4-2; 37″ pitch), and 293 seats in economy (3-3-3; 31″). It has more capacity in premium cabins than its other twin-aisle aircraft.
|
Days* |
Madrid To Tokyo Narita** |
Days |
Tokyo Narita To Madrid; Local Times*** |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays |
12:30 pm-9:30 am+1 |
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays |
11:10 am-7:45 pm^ (15h 35m) |
|
* Three weekly between May and December |
** In mid-April |
*** In mid-April ^ The third-latest-arriving service between Tokyo and Europe |
Iberia’s Second To Fifth-Longest Flights
In second place is Madrid to Santiago (up to 14h 26m, not 25m!), followed by Madrid to Monterrey (up to 13h 05m), Madrid to Buenos Aires (up to 13h 05m), and Madrid to Montevideo (12h 55m).
For the rest of the year, Iberia will have as many as 13 weekly departures to the capital of Chile, entirely on the A350-900. Schedule analysis shows that will be its highest frequency to date on the long route. But it’s only temporary during November and December, which is the peak summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Given that Iberia codeshares with LATAM on this city pair, the carrier’s dominance is even higher.
The most intriguing addition is Madrid to Monterrey, as it is a brand-new route in Iberia’s network. A three-weekly service will take off from Europe on June 2, with all flights operated by the 288-seat A330-200. This has 19 fully flat seats in business (1-2-1) and 269 seats in economy (the pleasing 2-4-2; 31″). It’ll start in time for the World Cup, which will partly be held in Mexico. It is bound to make my weekly celebratory new routes article (see the most recent edition).
It’ll be the second passenger airline flying between the Spanish capital and Monterrey. It’ll join Aeromexico, which returned to this market in 2021, having last operated in 2009. It’ll be the first time that two carriers have operated simultaneously.
Then There’s The Rest Of The Airline’s Ten Longest Flights
In sixth place is Madrid to Los Angeles (up to 12h 45m), followed by Madrid to San Francisco (up to 12h 35m), Madrid to Lima (up to 12h 25m), Madrid to Mexico City (up to 12h 20m), and Madrid to Guatamala City (up to 12h 00m). Madrid to Guayaquil fell marginally short (up to 11h 55m). While relatively long in themselves, these entries—like some in the prior section—are far from being ultra-long-haul.
Iberia’s inaugurated scheduled service to San Francisco eight years ago, in 2018. Due to the pandemic, flights operated until 2020 and returned in 2022. According to the US Department of Transportation, the oneworld member transported 533,000 round-trip passengers through 2025. Traffic fell by a quarter last year, which was because the operating period reduced from April-October in 2024 to May-September in 2025. The DOT shows that the seat factor improved (to 88%), and it’s likely that yields did too.
British Airways Axes Airbus A380 Flights On This Major US Route: Here’s Why
The carrier has made an unexpected decision, removing all A380 flights from London Heathrow to this very popular destination for the upcoming winter.
