Posted by Sade Williams
Qatar Airways continues where it left off in 2020, further expanding its strategic partnerships signing an expanded codeshare agreement with Iberia.
The agreement, according to the airlines, will enhance connectivity between the two airlines’ complementary networks and will offer additional travel options to our customers travelling between the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport.
Speaking n the development, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are pleased to further expand our codeshare cooperation with Iberia, Spain’s largest carrier and the leading airline connecting Europe with Latin America. Despite the challenges of 2020, it has been our priority to maintain reliable global connectivity for our passengers. This expansion of our strategic partnership with Iberia further strengthens connectivity between the hubs of Doha and Madrid ensuring more flexible travel options for our customers. Qatar Airways and Iberia have enjoyed the mutual benefits our partnership has brought us since its establishment in 2017, providing more choice and seamless global connectivity for our millions of passengers. As global travel recovers, we look forward to further expanding our commercial cooperation with Iberia and continuing to provide the unrivalled five-star service our passengers have come to expect.”
Iberia Group Chief Excutive, Javier Sanchez-Prieto, said: “The extension of the codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways is very good news for us. At Iberia we work so that, when countries eliminate their restrictions, we can offer our clients the widest and most comprehensive network possible. The extension of this codeshare agreement with our oneworld partner, Qatar Airways, opens up new markets in Australia and Africa and improves the connectivity we offer between Spain and the rest of the world with a very high-quality service offered by our partner, Qatar Airways.”
The expanded commercial cooperation will increase the number of destinations available to Iberia passengers from 29 to 36 on Qatar Airways’ network, including new destinations in Angola, Australia, Mozambique, New Zealand and South Africa. Qatar Airways passengers will also benefit from additional connectivity, with the ability to book travel to and from an additional four destinations on Iberia’s network in Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Senegal.
As oneworld alliance partners, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Iberia Plus members are ensured recognition of their tier status with benefits including access to lounges worldwide, through check-in, extra baggage allowance, priority check-in and boarding plus accrual and redemption of miles, across the partner carriers’ networks.
Qatar Airways’ strategic investment in a variety of fuel-efficient, twin-engine aircraft, including the largest fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, has enabled it to continue flying throughout this crisis and perfectly positions it to lead the sustainable recovery of international travel. The airline recently took delivery of four new state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, increasing its total A350 fleet to 53 with an average age of just 2.7 years. Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has grounded its fleet of Airbus A380 as it is not environmentally justifiable to operate such a large, four-engine aircraft in the current market. Qatar Airways has also recently launched a new programme that enables passengers to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking.
The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 120 destinations with plans to increase to over 130 by the end of March 2021. A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.
Iberia is the main Spanish airline and the leading carrier on routes between Europe and Latin America. It offers easy and convenient connections at its hub in T4 in Madrid-Barajas airport. Since 2014 it ranked among the five most punctual airlines in the world according to FlightStats, while it was awarded its 4th Skytrax star in 2017. The airline is a member of the oneworld alliance.
