Iberia pulls back Buenos Aires winter capacity
Spanish airline Iberia is cutting back its services to Argentina, amid weak demand in the South American nation as a result of its ongoing economic crisis.
Cirium schedules data shows the IAG-owned carrier is reducing the number of weekly flights it operates between Madrid and Buenos Aires in November and December to 11 per week, from 16 and 15 last year, respectively.
A switch from operating a mix of Airbus A340-600s, A340-500s and A330-200s on the route to the A350-900 means that the number of seats being offered will fall by more than a third.
In January and February the number of flights on the route will be cut from 17 flights per week to 14 and 12 respectively, equalling a 22% and 33% reduction in capacity once the switch to the A350-900 is factored in. There will be a smaller, 10% capacity reduction in March as weekly flights dip to 12 from 13.
Although capacity will rise in April as Iberia returns to using an A340-600 on the route, the summer season will still bring a moderate reduction in capacity compared with last year when Iberia operated an A340-500 and an A350-900 between the Spanish and Argentinian capitals.
IAG has also switched its Barcelona to Buenos Aires service from Iberia to low-cost subsidiary Level, cutting capacity on the route by 20-30% over the winter season. Iberia has not yet responded to a request for comment on the reductions.
A variety of airlines have noted weak travel demand from Argentina as a result of the country's economic situation.
In a downbeat assessment of the country during IAG's third-quarter results briefing on 31 October, chief financial officer Steve Gunning noted that while a "small bounce" in demand had been seen ahead of Argentina's recent elections, the group "would expect some deterioration the other side of that as a consequence". Cirium/FG
