Iberia eyes expansion in Brazil: more flights to São Paulo and new routes to Northeast

Iberia could soon have more flights to Brazil, according to the Minister of Ports and Airports, following a meeting with leaders of the Spanish airline. The meeting took place in Madrid, between Minister Silvio Costa Filho and Iberia Group President, Marco Sansavini.

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Costa Filho highlighted that Iberia will increase flights to São Paulo by the end of the year, and that work is underway to launch direct flights from Madrid to two northeastern Brazilian capitals, Fortaleza and Recife, in 2025, according to our associated media in Brazil, Aeroin.

Earlier this year, Iberia had already shown interest in operating flights to northeastern Brazil, taking advantage of the arrival of the new Airbus 321XLR, which will debut in November with flights to Boston and Washington/Dulles.

Mais conectividade! ✈️

In Madrid, we met with Iberia Group President Marco Sansavini to discuss new opportunities for the aviation market.
We are working to expand Iberia’s flights to Brazil: two new flights to São Paulo in November and… pic.twitter.com/PlWE22Ar0h

— Silvio Costa Filho (@Silvio_CFilho) October 22, 2024

Iberia in Brazil

Currently, the Spanish airline operates four weekly flights between Madrid and Rio de Janeiro with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
In São Paulo, Iberia offers 10 weekly flights, seven with A330-200s and three with A350-900s. Starting in December, the schedule indicates that the frequency between Madrid and São Paulo will increase to 14 flights per week.

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Northeast Brazil, TAP territory

Historical cultural ties have made TAP Air Portugal the main European operator in Brazil, with 90 flights and 24,000 weekly seats to 10 cities from Lisbon and Porto. This accounts for 27% of the seating capacity between Brazil and Europe. LATAM ranks second with 21%, while Iberia is in seventh place, offering 5% of the seats, according to data compiled by Aviacionline through Cirium.

In northeastern Brazil, TAP operates flights to Belém (5x), Fortaleza (9x), Natal (6x), Recife (9x), and Salvador (7x), with a mix of aircraft such as the A330-200, A330-900, and A321LR, the latter having about 1,300 kilometers less range than the A321XLR, which Iberia would use to cross the Atlantic.