The Air Shuttle turns 95 and recovers full capacity

Arrive and fly. That has always been the philosophy of the Air Shuttle between Barcelona and Madrid, one of the most iconic routes in the world, although it is currently not experiencing its best moment as a consequence of the competition from high-speed rail. This year, Iberia will celebrate the 95th anniversary of this commercial product, as the first flight was operated on December 14, 1927, in a small Rohrbach-Roland aircraft with capacity for only 10 passengers. 30 years ago, the Air Shuttle also played a leading role during the celebration of the Olympic Games and even transported the Olympic Torch designed by André Ricard.

Coinciding with the year of the 95th anniversary celebration, Iberia announced this Monday that starting in October, it plans to recover all the frequencies it operated before the pandemic. "The objective of this commitment is to incentivize and give a new impulse to the corporate segment on the domestic route with the highest business traffic and, at the same time, improve the product for all customers who travel between both cities in connection with its long-haul flight network mainly," said the IAG group airline.

In the winter season, which runs from October 30 to March 26, Iberia will offer up to 86 weekly frequencies between Madrid and Barcelona, 25% more than last winter (68 frequencies). This means there will be up to 15 daily flights per direction, with nearly 700,000 seats, a figure that slightly exceeds the 2019 offer because now the route will be operated by Airbus A320neo aircraft, with greater capacity. Wednesdays will be the days with the most operations.

From Barcelona, the first flight to Madrid will depart at seven in the morning and the last at 9:05 PM. From Madrid, the first flight of the day has also been set for seven in the morning and the last at 9:15 PM. During peak hours, there will be takeoffs every 30 minutes. Air Shuttle fares allow changing the flight without cost as many times as necessary and arriving at the airport only 20 minutes before departure.

With this increase in the offer of seats and frequencies, Iberia recovers the full capacity of the Air Shuttle with the idea of facing the unstoppable rise of the train, which, thanks to the high-speed corridor, already captures more than 75% of passenger traffic between Barcelona and Madrid. In addition, other companies such as Vueling and Air Europa also operate flights between the two cities. The dominance of the railway when traveling to the Spanish capital has been accentuated with the entry into operation of low-cost operators that compete with Renfe's AVE. Thus, now travelers also have available Avlo trains (also from Renfe) and Ouigo, a subsidiary of the French group SNCF. At the end of the year, competition will grow with the entry into operation of a second alternative operator to Renfe, Iryo, a company formed by the Air Nostrum group and Trenitalia.