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Iberia has announced a new transatlantic route today as the airline confirmed that it aims to fly between Madrid and New York’s Newark Liberty Airport from 29 March 2026.
The new route is set to complement Iberia’s existing double daily service between Madrid and New York JFK giving the airline three daily flights to the New York City metro area.
As things stand, this is what the new Newark schedule looks like:
IB327 MAD 19:35 – 22:25 EWR (Daily)
IB328 EWR 23:50 – 13:20+1 day MAD (Daily)
And this is what the current summer season schedule between Madrid and JFK looks like:
IB211 MAD 12:30 – 14:55 JFK (Daily)
IB325 MAD 16:20 – 18:55 JFK (Daily)
IB212 JFK 16:45 – 06:00 MAD +1 day (Daily)
IB326 JFK 20:40 – 10:15 MAD +1 day (Daily)
The new route to Newark will be operates by one of Iberia’s new Airbus A321XLR narrowbody aircraft (Business Class cabin review) while the JFK flights will continue to be operated by the airlines Airbus A330 and A350 widebody aircraft.
What they said
Announcing the launch of the new route between Madrid and Newark, María Jesús López Solás, Iberia’s Chief Commercial, Network Development and Alliances Officer had this to say:
“Our new flight to Newark is a tangible example of how Iberia is bringing our Flight Plan 2030 to life — a roadmap designed to consolidate our position as the leader in connectivity between Europe and the Americas.
The addition of Newark not only strengthens our presence in New York with a third daily frequency but also expands options for our customers by offering greater flexibility in schedules and fares, along with the advantages of multi-frequency service.
Newark’s proximity to Manhattan makes it an excellent choice for the corporate market. Furthermore, diversifying between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark allows us to optimize operations and better adapt to market needs, reinforcing our position along one of the most strategic corridors across the Atlantic.”
Thoughts
Iberia purchased the Airbus A321XLR with routes like this one in mind, so it’s not particularly surprising to see the airline add Newark to its network, it’s just surprising to see it added quite so quickly – I would have expected other East Coast destinations to be added before the NYC metro area got a 3rd daily flight.
I can see how the Madrid – Newark flight may appeal to some flyers as it allows you to have most of a work day in Madrid before flying to Newark in time for a night’s rest ahead of a full work day in New York, but I’ll be interested to see just how popular the route becomes as a whole.
Yes, Newark is more convenient for people visiting Manhattan, but a further key difference between the Newark and JFK routes is that while Newark will be served by a narrowbody A321XLR, the Madrid – JFK services will continue to offer widebody aircraft in the form of the A330 and A350.
This is an important difference for three key reasons:
Firstly, the Business Class seats on the A330 (review) and the A350 (review) feel more spacious than the comparable seats on the A321XLR (review), so I would always choose the widebody option over the narrowbody option if my schedule allowed (and I suspect that quite a few other travelers feel the same way).
Secondly, the JFK route offers a Premium Economy cabin on most of the daily flights while the Newark route will offer Business Class and Economy Class only.
Thirdly, most of the Economy Class seats on the A321XLR offer just 30″ of pitch (legroom) while none of the Economy Class seats on the A330s or the A350s offer less than 31″ of pitch.
An inch of difference may not seem like much, but take if from someone who has flown on 4.5 hour flights in seats with 30″ and 31″ of pitch (me), that one inch is very noticeable and will get more and more noticeable as the flight drags on.
Clearly Iberia thinks that there’s a market for its narrowbody service to Newark or it wouldn’t be launching it, but while there are widebody options on offer between Madrid and NYC (there are five if you count the American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines flights), there are very few scenarios under which I can see myself choosing Iberia’s A321XL over the large aircraft – given the choice of comfort (such as it it) or convenience on a long haul flight, I’ll choose comfort almost every time.
Bottom line
The latest route that Iberia plans to launch with its new A321XLR aircraft is the Madrid Newark route which is set to start carrying passengers on 29 March 2026.
The new route gives customers more options when it comes to departure and arrival times, but given that Iberia’s routes to JFK are operated by aircraft which offer a more comfortable passenger experience, the Newark flights are the ones I recommend avoiding unless (a) a Newark booking would save you quite a bit of money or (b) your schedule dictates that the JFK flight simply won’t work.
What do you think of the new Iberia route and the aircraft with which it will be operated?
