Following the reluctance of the European Commission and the subsequent cancellation of the purchase of Air Europa by the IAG group, the latter has activated its “plan B” to continue growing: embarking on one of the most ambitious fleet expansions in the history of Iberia, the so-called Flight Plan 2030.
The plan essentially consists of acquiring the same number of aircraft that Iberia would have acquired had it gone ahead with its merger with Air Europa, opening new routes to Brazil, Canada, and Asia, and developing the largest hub in southern Europe in Madrid.
These expansion plans are supported by the company’s good results: Iberia will end 2024 with 14% more growth than expected, figures of which there is already a first sample in IAG’s results for the first half of the year. Net profit was 905 million euros while operating profit amounted to 1,309 million.
If we add to this the incorporation in October of the A321 XLR (Iberia will be one of the first airlines to operate it), as well as the already announced purchases of new A350-900s, we can conclude that Iberia’s immediate future lies in a larger fleet. And therefore, in a larger pilot workforce.
