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Not everybody gets to regularly fly long-haul routes in Business Class and enjoy the lie-flat beds. Even when using miles, it can sometimes feel like an impossible task to accumulate enough Avios, especially when wanting to travel with a partner or an entire family. And even fewer opportunities exist to fly the newest state-of-the-art airplanes such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or the Airbus A350.
But the task is made easier when airlines roster their brand new toys on short haul routes – essentially to give pilots and crew some operating experience. Iberia’s brand new Airbus A350 is here, and Iberia has finally announced its entry into service.
The new A350 will be flown on flight IB3166 from Madrid to London Heathrow’s Terminal 5. It will return to Madrid as IB3167.
The A350 is rostered on this route from 20 July until 3 August, 2018 and from 17 August until 31 August, 2018.
Flight 3166 departs Madrid at 15:55, arriving into Heathrow at 17:20. Flight 3167 departs Heathrow at 18:50 and arrives into Madrid at 22:15.
Because of the use of a long-haul aircraft, the flight will depart from Madrid’s satellite terminal 4. This has the disadvantage of being much further from check-in (via underground train). However, you gain by being able to access the much-better Velazquez lounge at Terminal 4S.
If you are interested in using your Avios, a return ticket between London and Madrid in Business Class will cost you 30,000 Avios and £62.40 per person as these are all peak season dates. (Iberia has long stopped offering Reward Flight Saver…)
This also appears to be one of those cases where Avios & Money provides reasonable value. At 6,000 Avios + £272.40, you’d be spending £210 in order to save 24,000 Avios. If you are Avios-poor, this is an excellent opportunity…
Starting on 8 August, 2018, the A350 will start its intended long-haul service, flying one daily service between Madrid and New York JFK. The second daily service will start being served by the A350 on 1 September, 2018.
So, if you fancy flying on the latest long-haul airplane – although the configuration appears identical to Iberia’s existing A330s and A340s – you might want to spend some Avios to treat yourself to a trip to Madrid this summer…
Brand new IB biz class on SH route, nice bonus if you were flying that route anyway.
Nice surprise. Got our return trip from Seville in J and booked the wide body back to London and now it appears it will be on the new A350. Looking forward to it. Any seat plans released yet?
I haven’t done a dummy booking to see what the seat chart looks like, but I gather from other bloggers that it is quite similar to the current long-haul configuration. (staggered, direct aisle access for everybody in J)
Although the interesting thing for new planes is often whether passengers in Economy get an improved experience. (until somebody figures out how to squeeze in more seats!)
Cannot find the seat plan published anywhere. if you can direct me to it, I would appreciate it! Live in NY.
I can’t say that I’ve seen one. Until it starts flying I don’t suppose any third parties like Seatguru will have it.
As of this week BA have finally paid for the rights to use the in-flight entertainment on B777 & A350s operating the London – Madrid route.