Iberia is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927, the airline quickly expanded. More than 500 million people have been transported since then. The oneworld member owns a fleet of around 150 aircraft and plans to have an all-Airbus fleet by 2008. Over 100 destinations in 40 countries are reached.
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Iberia was founded as Iberia, Compañía Aérea de Transportes on June 28, 1927, originally financed by Spanish investor Horacio Echeberrieta and German Lufthansa. The first flight was operated on December 14 of the same year, between Madrid and Barcelona.
The first fleet consisted of three German Rohrbach Roland monoplanes bought from the Lufthansa.
In 1928, all Spanish airlines were merged and became state-controlled. Iberia became part of Compañía de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas S.A. (C.L.A.S.S.A.) and ceased operations.
Later, the state established the Lineas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE), today’s Iberia’s predecessor, from CLASSA. In 1936, however, the whole airline was integrated into the military, due to the outbreak of the civil war. On May 7, 1940, one year after the end of the civil war, Iberia was refounded as a purely domestic airline. The German Lufthansa was one of the stakeholders as well as the Spanish government (51 %). Due to WWII, the company could not really develop. In 1944, it was completely nationalized.
By 1946, it had become the first airline to connect Europe and South America after WWII, however, several other big European airlines followed as competitors later.
In 1948, as Iberia could not cope with the high demand in air travel, the Spanish government allowed a second company, Aviaco, to operate routes not used by Iberia. A board coordinating the airlines’ activities was set up in 1965.
By the 1960s, Iberia had expanded its route network and fleet. Jetplanes like the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 had been put into service. South America remained Iberia’s most important destination, but routes to the United States, Central America and Europe were successfully introduced, too. Connected to this, 747s and DC-9s were purchased in the early 70s.
During 1977, the year of the airline’s 50th anniversary, 10 million passengers were transported for the first time.
Iberia suffered from heavy losses during the 1980s and early 90s. These had been caused by major financial commitments because of plane orders and miscalculations in passenger numbers. Nevertheless, the airline executives decided on a major fleet renewal purchasing McDonnell Douglas MD-87s, Boeing 757s, Airbus A320s and A340s.
In order to further increase its passenger numbers, Iberia bought Argentinean Aerolíneas Argentinas in 1990 (sold again in 2001, after many useful assets had been transferred to Iberia), and major shares in Venezuelan Viasa, which later was merged into Iberia.
The airline was the first European airline to establish a frequent-flyer programme, Iberia Plus, in 1991. Five years later, the website Iberia.com was launched.
In 1998, the largest single Airbus order (76 planes) was made. One year later, Aviaco was bought and integrated into the airline. On September 1st, 1999, Iberia joined oneworld alliance.
In the same year, Iberia became semi-privatized. 50 % of the shares were sold, 9 % of them to competitor British Airways, 1 % to American Airlines.
Privatization was completed in 2001, when the airline went public. Since 1995, they have been profitable.
Today, Spain’s flag carrier remains one of Europe’s five largest airlines. Iberia reaches 105 destinations in 40 countries and has transported more than 500 million people in the time of their existence.
Iberia is planning to have an all Airbus fleet as from 2008. By 2007, they still operated some MD-87s and MD-88s as well as some Boeing 757s. As for the Airbus sector, A319s, A320s and A320s operate on short- and medium-haul routes while A340s operate on long-haul routes. In total, the airline owns around 150 planes with an average fleet age of 8.1 years.
The main hubs are Madrid and Barcelona airports.
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