The Spanish airline Iberia will return to Cuba after two years of having suspended its flights as being “unprofitable”.
With their routes to the island canceled since April 2013, Iberia recently announced it would open its destination Havana from next June 1, and of the cities of Cali and Medellin (Colombia) from July 3.
The president of Iberia, Luis Gallego, was pleased to announce the return of his airline to the Cuban capital, and argued that “when we suspended the flights to Havana two years ago we committed to return when we could make the route sustainable in time ” to which he added ¨time has come ´
Moreover, Gallego said the return of Iberia is due to changes made to the airline in recent months, which has enabled them to strengthen its presence in Latin America, a market that is considered of “natural projection.”
As reported, for flights to Havana, like Cali and Medellin, Iberia will work its new Airbus A330, which have direct aisle access, more comfortable seats in economy class, single entertainment on demand in all seats, Wifi and GSM connectivity.
The company will operate with prices that already are at 599 Euros round trip to Havana in low season and 899 Euros in high. The flights to Havana will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Iberia flights to Cuba began on April 21, 1949, which was considered a landmark for the time. During 64 years, and despite the many US sanctions that have weighed on the island, travel remained until December 2012 when Iberia announced cuts in their trips to different parts of the world, in which included Havana and Santo Domingo, and then Athens, Cairo and Istanbul.
These cuts, according to the company, was due to a restructuring plan until September 2012 included cutting more than 4000 jobs, wage reductions touched 30%, decreasing the sixth of his travels and segregation of a services group.
Trips cut by Iberia, as the company said, were basically tourist, because they found it difficult to compete with similar operators. The “business trips are leaving profits. A businessman is willing to pay what is asked for a seat on the day he needs it. A tourist, no, ” they said then.
In the last year, Iberia has opened more than 20 new destinations, which include Montevideo, Santo Domingo or Istanbul.
According to the company, its continued improvement is due to the success of the agreements with its employees towards cost reduction and productivity improvement in February and March 2014.
In the case of Havana, they said, “flexibility, commitment and the willingness of pilots” with the route was decisive.
Coincidentally, the renewal of Iberia flights to the island occurs after Havana and Washington announced last December 17 starting talks for the restoration of diplomatic relations and normalization of ties of both countries.
So, thinking in the future lifting of restrictions US placed on business with Cuba, Iberia could be thinking of a greater influx of business travel, and a possible increase in tourism.
