How is Iberia faring this year? Has the crisis in Catalonia affected the company's growth?
Mario Sansavini - The Spanish economy has regained its vigour, with stronger economic growth than in previous years and falling unemployment. This, of course, has had a positive impact on our business. Iberia has experienced increasing our capacity 13.6% since the start of the year. On the France-Spain route, our growth is also significant, at around 8%. The political crisis in Catalonia has in no way affected our performance. Quite simply, because we are at Madrid and our hub has continued to grow at a steady pace.
What are the strengths of Iberia that you are seeking to promote in France?
M.S. - La France is a very important market for us, since we serve eleven cities, i.e. 12 airports since in Paris we land at both Roissy CDG and Orly. I include Basel-Mulhouse airport in this calculation. This year we have increased our frequencies to Nice and Toulouse, the latter being one of the fastest growing airports for us, as is Orly. Having said that, we are valuing Madrid, but we are positioning ourselves above all as a major hub. the European hub to Latin America. With 18 destinations and over 250 weekly flights, we offer the most comprehensive network to Latin America from Europe. From the French provinces, we are also very well placed on North America. So from France, New York, Miami and Havana are among the most popular destinations... From Paris, we have strong demand for Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Colombia.
What's new on the Latin American network?
M.S. - For the winter season, we are increasing our flights to Buenos Aires with three additional flights a week by Airbus A330-200, giving a total of 17 frequencies a week from Madrid. Depending on the season, we offer 19 to 20 weekly flights on Mexico City and this winter we are maintaining our 10 weekly flights to Santiago de Chile. We increased frequencies last June. Finally, the entry into service of our new Airbus A350-9s will also affect our Americas network. While the first A350 is in service on the Madrid-New York route, it is already scheduled for Buenos Aires in early 2019.
Iberia has changed, changed a lot
Why did Iberia come to the French market in 2018 for a communication campaign?
M.S. - The aim of this communication campaign is to raise public awareness of the "new IberiaWe have realised that passengers, particularly business travellers, do not yet have the Iberia reflex when it comes to long-haul travel. We realised that passengers, particularly business travellers, did not yet have the Iberia reflex for long-haul travel. We often come up against preconceived ideas, based I have to say on the image that our airline conveyed some twenty years ago. But Iberia has changed, and changed a lot. First of all, we have a new fleet of long-haul aircraft with an intercontinental product that has been totally redesigned. We have adopted a real quality approach both on the ground and in the air.
What does this mean?
M.S. - Firstly, it translates into new seats in all classes. In business, passengers have a real seat-bed two metres long with an 18-inch screen and wifi on board. We have also been named best business class on the Europe-Latin America route by Skytrax. Our Premiumwhich represents up to 40% of our long-haul capacity, has been a great success. As for our economy class, we have installed a new-generation seat. What's more, we're particularly proud to have been most punctual company of the world in 2016 and 2017. This shatters the myth of the South European airline that is always late! Finally, on the ground, we have renovated all our lounges in Madrid, which many of our premium passengers consider to be among the most beautiful in Europe. So we've become a four-star Skytrax carrier, and we want to spread the word! We are now working to offer more online services through our application.
Do you have a special offer for business people or SMEs?
M.S. - In the business market in France, we sell IAG's complete range of flights, offering an integrated solution that provides a very flexible range of flights. This is further enhanced by our various joint ventures with our OneWorld partners. In 2015, we also created a flexible product for SMEs or individual business travellers, On BusinessIt allows you to manage your ticket purchases online and collect points, which can then be converted by the company for other tickets or discounts on Iberia, BA or American Airlines.
