Iberia launches direct flights between Madrid and the Argentine city of Cordoba

Iberia will launch direct flights between Madrid and the Argentine city of Córdoba on October 1st of this year, becoming the first European airline to operate on this route.

The Spanish airline expects to carry nearly 70,000 passengers on the route during the first year of operation.

The company will fly on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at a time that ensures good connections in Madrid to and from its other destinations in Spain and the rest of Europe.

“The opening of this route is expected to bring substantial benefits to Córdoba, Argentina’s second-largest city after the capital, Buenos Aires. It will facilitate business travel, tourism, and reuniting families with members on both sides of the Atlantic. Iberia cargo holds can carry goods between that region and Europe,” Iberia says.

The new route will also consolidate Iberia’s leadership in Argentina. The Spanish airline currently holds a 26% market share of air passenger transport between Europe and Argentina, and with the new Córdoba flight it expects this share to increase to some 30%.

The new flight will link the Central area of Argentina with Europe. Córdoba’s airport will become the gateway of a very extensive area of 400 km around the Argentinian city, where about 10 million people live.

Argentina is Iberia’s largest growth area in 2010. In February the airline added three weekly return flights to Buenos Aires, for a total of 17 flights per week.

In terms of seat capacity, this amounts to a 16% increase, with more than 1,000 additional seats per week. The additional flights and the new Madrid – Córdoba route will raise the total number of passengers Iberia carries between Spain and Argentina each year to above 500,000.

Buenos Aires became Iberia’s first trasnatlantic destination in 1946, when the Spanish carrier became the first airline to fly from Europe to South America. Today it uses 342-seat Airbus A-340/600s on the route, with a recently redesigned Business Plus Class, featuring 220 cm of personal space for each passenger, and seats that unfold into completely horizontal beds.

About Iberia

Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. (BMAD: IBLA) is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services. Its main bases are Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport. In 2008 the airline reported a net profit of €32 million (€327.6 million in 2007, €56.7 million in 2006, €395 million in 2005) – its 13th consecutive year of profits. Iberia transported 27,799,000 passengers in 2006 (27,675,000 in 2005).

Iberia Airlines, with Iberia Regional (operated by an independent carrier Air Nostrum), is a part of Iberia Group. In addition to transporting passengers and freight, Iberia Group carries out related activities, such as aircraft maintenance, handling in airports, IT systems and in-flight catering. Iberia Group airlines fly to over 102 destinations in 39 countries. Via code-sharing arrangements with other companies, it offers flights to another 90 destinations.

On 12 November 2009, Iberia Airlines confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with British Airways. The merger between the two carriers will create the world’s third-largest airline in terms of revenue. On 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia had signed an agreement to merge, making the combined operation the third largest commercial airline in the world by revenue. The newly merged company will be known as International Airlines Group, although both airlines will continue to operate under their current brands.

About Cordoba

Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about 700 km (435 mi) northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province.

Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with about 1.3 million inhabitants as per the 2001 census. The city was founded on July 6, 1573 by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, who named it after Córdoba, Spain. It was one of the first Spanish colonial capitals of the region that is now Argentina (the older city was Santiago del Estero, founded in 1553). The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba is the oldest university in Argentina. It was founded in 1613 by the Jesuit Order.

Córdoba has many historical monuments preserved from the times of Spanish colonialism, especially buildings of the Roman Catholic Church. The most recognizable is perhaps the Jesuit Block (Spanish: Manzana Jesuítica), declared in 2000 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO which consists of a group of buildings dating from the 17th century, including the Montserrat School and the colonial university campus (today the historical museum of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, which since the early 20th century has been the second-largest in the country (after the University of Buenos Aires) in terms of the number of students, faculty, and academic programs.

As the location of the first university founded in the land that is now Córdoba, Argentina has earned the nickname La Docta (roughly translated, “The Learned Lady”).

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SOURCES:

“Iberia to operate direct flights to Cordoba, Argentina starting on October 1st”
20/05/2010
FINANCIAL
http://www.finchannel.com
http://www.finchannel.com/news_flash/Travel_Biz_News/63726_Iberia_to_operate_direct_flights_to_Cordoba,_Argentina_starting_on_October_1st_/

“Iberia (airline)”
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberia_%28airline%29

“Córdoba, Argentina”
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http://en.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3rdoba,_Argentina