Madrid
Ten years ago, Iberia accounted for 80% of our passengers. Five years ago, Ryanair didn’t fl y to or from Madrid at all
“The interest in previous years in us starting a service to Spain has certainly been refl ected in strong forward bookings,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations for Europe and the Russian Federation, at the offi cial announcement of the route’s launch. And in September last year, Iberia launched a twice-weekly service to Oran in Algeria, adding to its fi ve-times weekly service to the country’s capital Algiers.
Americas remain core focus Recent new routes announcements, however, have continued to focus more on Madrid’s geographic mainstays of North and Latin America and have been led by its principal carrier, Iberia. There’s that new service to LAX, for example, plus the recent announcement of additional Iberia services over the summer between Madrid and New York JFK, from 14 to 17 weekly. In February 2011, meanwhile, Iberia began a new route from Madrid-Barajas to Recife, which includes a stopover in Fortaleza. Both cities are thriving holiday destinations and increase Madrid’s connections with a country experiencing huge economic growth at present: Madrid-Barajas now has 72 weekly direct fl ights to Fortaleza, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador de Bahia and São Paulo, operated by Air China, Air
www.routesonline.com
Europa, Iberia and TAM Lineas Aereas respectively.
Improved passenger experience Regardless of their destinations, however, Madrid-Barajas is working hard to provide passengers attracted by new routes, as well as existing ones, with an excellent travel experience, says Oleaga. High-value VIP customers have been a particular focus, with the launch of new Fast Track facilities in both terminals 2 and 4 in the past year. In Terminal 2, KLM-Air France, Air Europa, SAS and TAP Portugal all offer this service and it is available for Iberia and Emirates passengers in Terminal 4.
Passengers with restricted mobility are another important priority: Oleaga is extremely proud of the fact that Aena recently scooped an ‘Ability Award’ from Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica for its work in making travel easier for passengers with disabilities.
Impact of mega airline merger Right now, it’s not clear what effect the BA/Iberia merger will have on routes development at Madrid. Oleaga will say only that closer coordination of services offered by both carriers promises “better opportunities and choices for passengers”, but recent expansion of the two airlines’ codesharing agreement offers no clues as to the potential for entirely new routes.
Since April 1, the ‘BA’ code appears on Iberia services to Central America, Mexico and South Africa; and the ‘IB’ code will appear on BA fl ights to Mexico, Middle East and South Africa.
In November 2010, however, once shareholders had approved the merger, Iberia chairman, Antonio Vazquez, told reporters that the new company’s plan focused squarely on the room for expansion at Madrid-Barajas and that there were plans to turn it into a hub for fl ights between Latin America and Europe. To some extent, it’s already there – but there is clearly great opportunity in Latin American markets, where air travel is growing exponentially and far ahead of the pace seen in struggling North American and European economies. At the same time, both BA boss, Willie Walsh, and Vazquez have acknowledged the onerous restrictions imposed by Brazil, among other countries in the region, which prohibit foreign airlines from taking majority stakes in domestic carriers. Madrid-Barajas faces other
uncertainties in the year ahead. Rumours continue to swirl around Ferrovial’s interest in buying the airport (along with Barcelona El-Prat airport); deep concern persists over the general state of the Spanish economy and the possible need for a fi nancial bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund; and, perhaps more imminently, there is the very real threat of proposed industrial action by government workers, including air traffi c control staff, during the important Easter and summer seasons.
But Oleaga insists his focus, for now, is simply to maintain the airport’s newly revived growth trajectory. “We are very optimistic about 2011. Very optimistic indeed,” he says.
RN
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