Iberia celebrates the 70th anniversary of its flights to New York. On 3 August 1954, one of the Spanish airline’s three Super Constellations, the so-called Santa Maria, flew for the first time between Madrid and New York. Five days later, scheduled flights began.
To commemorate such a special day, Andrés Iwasaki, Iberia’s long-haul Cabin Crewmember, surprised customers on IB6251 on Saturday, 3 August 2024, the first flight of the day, with a performance of Frank Sinatra’s NEW YORK, NEW YORK.
The first flight between Madrid and New York, which lasted 15 hours due to weather conditions (although the normal time was between nine and ten hours) had a capacity for 19 passengers in its first-class cabin and 55 in economy. The flight crew, both technical and passenger, consisted of 10 people in total.
Iberia used to operate this route three times a week and tickets were priced at $436 in first-class and $334 in economy. Today, Iberia customers have two flights a day and can find tickets on its website (iberia.com) from 234 euros in economy and 1486 euros in business class each way, buying a return ticket.
The route between Madrid and New York was consolidated over the following years and proof of its success was the increase in the number of passengers. In the first five months of operation, from August to December, nearly 2,000 people were carried. The following year it reached 7,300. After 25 years, in 1979, the route had carried more than 2.2 million passengers.
Super Constellation, a boost for commercial aviation
It was the addition of three Super Constellations that allowed the opening of regular routes on the other side of the Atlantic, such as New York, Havana and Buenos Aires. In 1952, the Spanish airline bought three Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations. The first arrived in Madrid on 24 June 1954. The three new aircraft were named after Christopher Columbus’ three caravels: Santa Maria, Niña and Pinta.
These aircraft were faster and had a longer range than the DC-4s (550 km/h versus 365 km/h and 8,300 km range versus 6,800 km respectively), and were also pressurised, which increased passenger comfort by allowing them to fly higher and avoid some of the bad weather.
Iberia in New York today
Today, Iberia flies twice daily between Madrid and New York with the Airbus 350-900, the quietest model on the market, which is also 30 to 35 percent more fuel efficient than its predecessors, thanks to the latest generation materials used in its construction and the advanced design of its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. This model has a capacity for up to 348 passengers in three different cabins: business (31 passengers), premium economy (24 passengers) and tourist (293 passengers).
In 2024, the Spanish airline offers nearly 435,000 seats to fly between the Spanish capital and the Big Apple. In addition to flights to New York, Iberia flies to seven other destinations in the United States: Miami, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas Fort Worth, San Francisco and Washington. In total, 1.7 million seats between the two countries, or 130 flights a week.
