Hello from Madrid! I’m fresh off the first leg of my trip to Singapore and Hong Kong. On this leg, I positioned to Madrid in order to catch the beginning of my AAdvantage itinerary (taxes are generally much cheaper out of Madrid), and the timing actually worked out best to fly the evening flight operated by Iberia’s A330. I got myself into a bit of a conundrum – I swapped out of business class last-minute to economy (with a refundable redemption ticket) to see what it was like flying Iberia’s premium economy seat on a shorthaul flight, though Iberia subsequently swapped the plane to one of their A330s without premium economy. That wasn’t a big deal, since Iberia’s economy clas was new to me (I’ve reviewed Iberia’s business class on the route before, albeit on an A350, which has the same seat).
Flying a longhaul flight intra-Europe is a treat, regardless of which cabin class you’re in. Even in economy class, I got adjustable headrests, a TV screen (with a surprisingly responsive entertainment system), a better designed seat with more storage, and more legroom and recline than you’d otherwise get. Obviously the difference is most stark if you’re in business class, though I’d still seek out a flight operated by a longhaul plane even if I were flying economy.
Here are my first impressions of the flight, and I’ll share a full review in the weeks to come (after I wrap up my current trip report series).
Iberia’s A330 Economy Class Seat: Good Enough For Longhaul Flights
Our flight was last-minute swapped to an Iberia A330-200 (from an A330-300), which operates flights to Central and South America on a regular basis. The main difference is that there’s no premium economy cabin, and there are more economy seats than the A330-300.
My particular plane featured the newer version of Iberia’s A330 seat, the Recaro CL3710.
Iberia A330 Economy Class
As you can see, these aircraft feature adjustable headrests (the A320s only do at some seats), and PTVs. In-seat storage isn’t actually much better than on the shorthaul aircraft, though there’s definitely more legroom (31″ seat pitch as opposed to 29-30″).
Iberia A330 Economy Class Recline
On the WiFi front, all of Iberia’s aircraft flying the London-Madrid route feature inflight WiFi with a free messaging option for Iberia Club members (which is free to join, and it doesn’t have to be linked to your booking). I only used the messaging feature on this flight, though Iberia’s WiFi is some of the fastest non-Starlink WiFi I’ve experienced so far (sadly Browse and Stream isn’t free regardless of the cabin you’re in).
Is this a monumental upgrade over their shorthaul planes? Well, not hugely, at least in economy. There’s definitely more legroom, but a two-hour flight you might not use the screen – Iberia also has power ports on their shorthaul fleet.
I watched the new Michael Jackson biopic on this flight, which I enjoyed
However, on these high-frequency routes, I’d certainly recommend seeking these flights out if you can. Flying on one of these aircraft is a much more pleasant experience than the narrowbody aircraft, considering the extra creature comforts you typically only get on longhaul flights.
The A330s/A350s are much nicer than these A320neos even in economy, which otherwise operate the London-Madrid route
Iberia’s buy-on-board menu isn’t half bad either
When I was looking at the buy-on-board options for my Iberia flight, I was surprised to see options such as suckling pig ingot, salmon poke, cuttlefish and shrimp creamy rice, beef tenderloin and gnocchi, and octopus and ratatouille. These all went for €14.95 (£12.81) – maybe a tinge on the high side for shorthaul buy-on-board economy, though I’ve not seen these options onboard a flight before.
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try the octopus with ratatouille and aioli. I was expecting a carpaccio of sorts, so was so surprised to see an entire thick-cut section of octopus tentacle. It was served Mediterranean-style with mashed potato and ratatouille, and to my surprise, was super tender, as good as you’d get from a restaurant.
Iberia A330 Economy Class – Octopus with Ratatouille and Aioli
Also, while I won’t dedicate a section on the route, I’ve got to give it up to the flight attendants, who were as friendly and eager to please as I’ve seen in economy (let alone intra-European economy).
Iberia’s onboard experience beats their booking experience by a mile
Iberia has some of the ropiest IT I’ve ever come across, and that clouded the last (and only) experience I’d had with them, which was my A350 flight from Madrid to London. It was difficult not to think about how much their IT sucked when I was sat shoulder-to-shoulder in a middle seat in business class, when I’d otherwise booked a window.
With a more balanced view this time round (and perhaps being older and more mature), I can’t help but realise how much Iberia’s onboard experience is better than their ground experience. Their onboard catering is consistently fantastic, the crew were friendly on all flights I’ve had with them so far regardless of cabin class, and even their lounges are significantly upgraded from what I remember (more on that later). Even their customer service is so much better than I was expecting – when the seatmap was blacked out shortly before the equipment swap, I called to request a premium economy seat, and the system limitations were explained clearly and patiently to me with a fast response time.
If Iberia hired a few software engineers or technical consultants to fix their terrible website and back-end, I feel like I’d actually be quite excited to fly them, at least based on my few shorthaul experiences so far. Perhaps it’s time to fly them longhaul.
Even when I was sulking over my middle seat back in 2021, I was briefly distracted by how good the meal was
Conclusion
I’m comfortable giving Iberia a 0/10 on their IT, though in my experience, they provide an above average onboard experience for a full-service European carrier. Their onboard offering beats British Airways, Swiss, etc., from the fast and free WiFi to the delicious catering. This gets even better when you manage to bag a flight serviced by their longhaul configuration.
Have you flown Iberia before? Would you agree that (apart from their terrible website) they provide an above average onboard experience?
