Iberia revolutionizes its commercial offer with the arrival of first new Airbus A330 and all-new seating sections

Iberia has unveiled its new long-haul seating sections and other innovations on the opening day of the Fitur holiday travel trade fair in Madrid. The innovations also include a total makeover of the www.iberia.com website and new products and services designed to enhance the Iberia customer’s travel experience in the air and on the ground.

The new business and economy class seating sections in Iberia’s long-haul fleet are being introduced with the incorporation of the first of eight new Airbus A330/300s in February – the eighth will join the fleet in March, 2014. The twin-engine transcontinental aircraft consume about 15% less fuel than the four-engine aircraft they replace, for a substantial cost saving.

The new Airbus A330/300s come with 36 Business Plus class and 242 economy class seats. The extra-wide Business Plus seats unfold into perfectly flat beds nearly two metres long, and are designed and position to offer the greatest comfort and privacy to premium passenger, as well as direct access to the aisle from each seats. Iberia’s Managing Director of Commercial and Customers, Marco Sansavini, says “with the new fleet, Iberia is revolutionising the travel experience of its long-haul business passengers in terms of comfort and features, and making it the best on Europe- Latin America routes.”

The new Business Plus class entertainment system is more intuitive and easier to use, centring on a 15.4” touch screen –50% larger than the current one— and resembling the new tablet computers in functional terms. There is also a 4.2” touch screen remote with a virtual keyboard, which can also be used to make telephone calls and to send and receive text message. Content, changed every month, will include some 80 feature films and television series and documentaries in a number of languages, some 200 musical options, interactive 3D games, etc.

Iberia will soon add Wi-fi and GMS texting capability for all passengers on long-haul flights, plus power and communications jacks in all seats.

The Business Plus seating section features lightness and clarity and lighting changes with each phase of the flight. Reading lights are more powerful, and passengers have more space for their belongings.

Economy class passengers on the new Airbus A330s will also have individual entertainment options, with intuitive 9” touch screens on which passengers’ can enjoy feature films in several languages, television series and documentaries, and children’s programmes.

More ergonomic economy class seats offer more room and greater comfort. The new seats and sections are standard in the new Airbus A330/300, and the cabins of Iberia’s existing Airbus A340/600s, used for flights to the Americas and Africa, will be refitted with them in the course of the year.
In addition to the new cabins, Iberia is adding other new products and services to improve its passengers’ travel experience in the airport as well as in the air.

The www.iberia.com website is to undergo a complete makeover in 2013, and the airline will also work on “socialising” the website, connecting its annual 34 million visitors to the nearly 1.3 million followers of Iberia’s social network profiles.

Iberia is introducing major improvements to all services at its T4 hub in Madrid-Barajas airport, including check-in, boarding, connections, and arrivals. New, more intuitive check-in software is being introduced kiosks, and luggage check-in and delivery procedures are being streamlined. The new IBHelp system lets all Iberia airport personnel access the check-in system via mobile devices, enabling them to help customers from any point in the airport. Further improvements to check-in and luggage handling are to be introduced this year.

Iberia, in collaboration with the AENA airport authority and the national police, is also working to streamline security control procedures in the T4. A new “Iberia Connections” service was recently launched to assist passengers with tight connections, and new Quick Service Points enable customers to report lost or delayed luggage without having to queue.

All these innovations reflect Iberia’s commitment to increase service quality. In the June-December period of 2012 the company achieved a punctuality rating of 80%, up 10 points from the previous year. The many improvement to products and services were translated into a more than 7-point rise in the “perceived quality´” rating.