Iberia: 182 seats to America with the challenge of making them profitable

Iberia, which will be the global launch airline for the new Airbus A321XLR once it receives it after the summer, faces the challenge of making an unusual 182-seat model in Business and Economy cabin configuration profitable for transoceanic Flights between Europe and America.

In the case of the Business cabin, the A321XLR will have 14 individual seats with a window and direct access to the aisle, and as for the debut Flight, as reported REPORTUR.usthe president of Iberia, Marco Sansavini revealed that the debate is between Washington and Boston, in the absence of a definitive decision (Iberia’s plans with the new Airbus jewel, the A321XLR).

This narrow body aircraft, that is, with a single aisle, implies lower costs than wide body models such as the A330 or A350 in the Iberia fleet, but in return, the latter generate much more income thanks to the savings of scale and a seat availability at least a third higher than that of the new A321XLR.

The bulk of the airlines’ profitability comes from long-haul business class, where competition is more limited and therefore where margins are widened, so a good part of the profits that the A321XLR can generate will come from the aforementioned 14 seats. individual cabins in their higher category cabin.

The North Atlantic routes are suitable for this model, which in the case of the Spanish route will lead to its Flights being centered between Madrid and the East coast of the United States, from where American low cost companies such as Jetblue have also been operating to Europe. by benefiting from its lower costs compared to traditional airlines.

The challenge for Iberia, therefore, is that the versatility that this model allows does not alter the usual scales of profitability that characterize its routes over the Atlantic, and that a much more limited supply of seats per plane is not penalized. than usual.