Iberworld Airlines, S.A. is a
charter airlineIn the context of mass tourism, charter flights have acquired the more specific meaning of a flight whose sole function is to transport holidaymakers to tourist destinations. Such charter flights are contrasted with scheduled flights, but they do in fact operate to regular, published schedules...
based in
Palma de MallorcaPalma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. It operates charter flights to destinations in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, scheduled domestic services, and scheduled international services to
HavanaHavana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city is one of the 14 Cuban provinces. The city/province has 2.4 million inhabitants, and the urban area over 3.7 million, making Havana the largest city in both Cuba and the Caribbean region...
. In its 11 year history, Iberworld has flown to four continents and has operated routes to over 30 countries. Its main base is Son Sant Joan Airport, Palma de Mallorca. Iberworld is the air division of the
Orizonia GroupThe Orizonia Group is a tour operator based in Spain which was founded in 2006. The company is based on the Spanish island of Palma de Mallorca, in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest tour operator in Spain...
, Spain's third largest tour operator.
History
Following the failure of BCM Airlines, Iberworld was founded by Grupo Iberostar, a Spanish tourist company, who wholly owned the new airline. Grupo Iberostar already owned a tour operator, hoiday resorts and hotels and saw that buying BCM would be a quick way to acquire an airline.
The airline was established in 1998 and started operations on 11 April 1998 with a single
Lockheed L-1011The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as just L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, three-engine, widebody passenger jet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and...
Tristar leased from Classic Airways of the United Kingdom. The L-1011 was used on routes from
Palma de MallorcaPalma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca...
and
MalagaMálaga is a city in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. It is the second most populous city of Andalusia, the sixth largest in Spain and 43rd-most populous municipality in the European Union, with a population of 566,447 in 2008...
to London. The next day, on 12 April 1998, the first Airbus A320-200 was delivered and it satrted services to compliment the Tristar. By May 5 a second A320-200 had been delivered and as the end of Spring approached, they returned the L-1011 to Classic Airways. By the end of the year, however, Iberworld received two new A320 aircraft from Airbus allowing them to make a 23.6 million Euro profit in just 8 months from carrying over 263,000 passengers.
In February 1999, the airline took delivery of their first wide body aircraft – an
Airbus A310The Airbus A310 is a medium to long-range widebody airliner. Launched in 1978, it was the second aircraft created by the Airbus consortium of European aerospace companies, which is now fully owned by EADS. The A310 is a shortened derivative of the A300, the first twin-engined widebody airliner...
-300 from Transavia. Later that year, it received it's 5th A320 and placed an order for two more of the type. 1999 was Iberworld's first full year of flying and passenger figures rose to over one million, the growth being so considerable due to the gap in the market left by
Viva AirViva Air was an airline from Spain that operated during the 1980s and 1990s.-History:Viva Air, whose complete name in Spanish was Vuelos Internacionales de Vacaciones was founded on 24 February 1988 by Iberia and Lufthansa....
(which stopped operations in March 1999). This airline closure allowed Iberworld to open new routes to Caribbean.
In 2000, Iberworlds growth was more modest with passenger figures rising to 1.1 million with no new aircraft arriving.
Iberworld then placed their first order for a new wide body in July 2001, an Airbus A330-200 to serve its long haul destinations. Later that same year, the two A320s on order arrived; however, due to the September 11
th attacks on the
World Trade CenterThe World Trade Center was a complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City whose seven buildings were destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 terrorist attacks...
in New York, passenger numbers remained around the same as the previous year.
In mid April 2002, the Airbus A330-200 (registered EC-IDB) arrived with seating capacity for 51 Premium passengers and 287 Economy passengers. This acquisition allowed Iberworld to retire the ageing A310-300 in October 2002.
In 2006 Grupo Iberostar decided to sell the airline and other parts of Iberostar for 800 million Euros while keeping the hotels and resorts. Iberworld, together with former Iberostar's tour operators, and Viajes Iberia became the new
Orizonia GroupThe Orizonia Group is a tour operator based in Spain which was founded in 2006. The company is based on the Spanish island of Palma de Mallorca, in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest tour operator in Spain...
owned by the UK's Carlyle Group (55%), Spain's Vista Capital (36%), the ICG Equity Fund (5%) and ten of the company's managers (4%). Later that same year, Iberworld carried over 2 million passengers, a major milestone in the airlines history.
Iberworld has since taken delivery of three A330-300 series aircraft, the larger A330 variant, another A320-200 (from
IberiaThe name Iberia refers to three historical regions of the old world:* Iberian Peninsula, in Southwest Europe, location of modern-day Portugal and Spain** Prehistoric Iberia...
) and has leased the A330-200 to their Portuguese subsidiary
OrbestOrbest is a charter airline based in Lisbon, Portugal. It operates long-haul services to tourist destinations in the Caribbean.The airline was established in 2007. It was founded and is wholly owned by Spanish Iberworld Airlines which is owned by the Orizonia Group. Orbest is Iberworld's Portuguese...
. This modern Airbus fleet of 7 A320-200s, 1 A330-200 (leased to Orbest) and 3 A330-300s have allowed Iberworld to report a profit every year since their inception in 1998.
In 2008 the Iberworld fleet paint scheme was changed to a much more appealing and eye-cathcing design. As of 2009 all ten of their aircraft have the new livery.
Destinations
Iberworld serves the following destinations as of August 2009:
- Algeria: Hassi Messaoud
- Belgium: Brussels, Liege
- Brazil: Salvador da Bahía
- Bulgarium: Burgas
- Denmark: Billund
- Dominican Republic: Punta Cana
- Egypt: Aswan, Cairo, Luxor
- Finland: Turku
- France: Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Paris-Orly, Strasbourg
- Gambia: Banjul
- Germany: Bremen, Cologne, Hanover, Munich
- Greece: Athens, Corfú, Heraklion, Kos
- Ireland: Cork, Dublin, Ireland West Knock, Kerry, Shannon
- Italy: Bologna, Catania, Milan-Malpensa, Milan-Orio al Serio, Naples, Venice-Marco Polo, Verona
- Jamaica: Montego Bay
- Kenya: Nairobi
- Mali: Bamako
- Mexico: Cancún
- Norway: Aalesund, Bodo, Haugesund, Stavanger, Trondheim, Rygge (Moss)
- Portugal: Faro, Funchal, Lisbon, Porto
- Serbia: Belgrade
- Spain: Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Madrid, Málaga, Minorca, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Reus, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife-South, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Vitoria, Zaragoza
- Sweden: Jonkoping, Kalmar, Karlstad, Stockholm, Vasteras, Vaxjo
- Tanzania: Zanzibar
- Tunisia: Tunis
- United Kingdom: Bournemouth, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, London-Stansted, Manchester, Teesside, Prestwick
Fleet
The Iberworld fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 3 July 2009):
| Aircraft |
Capacity |
No. of Aircraft |
Notes |
| Airbus A320-200 |
180 |
7 |
N/A |
| Airbus A330-200 |
338 |
1 |
Leased to Orbest Orbest is a charter airline based in Lisbon, Portugal. It operates long-haul services to tourist destinations in the Caribbean.The airline was established in 2007. It was founded and is wholly owned by Spanish Iberworld Airlines which is owned by the Orizonia Group. Orbest is Iberworld's Portuguese...
|
| Airbus A330-300 |
387 or 388 |
3 |
N/A |
In May 2009, the Iberworld average fleet age was 6.6 years making it one of the youngest fleets in Spanish aviation.
Cabin
Premium: Iberworld Premium is available on all of Iberworld's A330 series aircraft. In Premium Class passengers receive many extras, such as a free amenity kit, pillow, blanket, headphones, newspapers and meals served on china and drinks served in glassware.
Economy: In Iberworld
Economy Class__FORCETOC__Economy class, , is the lowest class of seating in air travel and rail travel....
, passengers receive free pillows, blankets and meals. Amenity kits are available for purchase for 5 Euros and In-Flight-Entertainment is available on all A330 aircraft and most A320 aircraft. Headphones can be purchased for 3 Euros.
A duty-free shop is available in both cabins. Both classes can select their seats prior to boarding and an express check-in facility is available for Premium customers and Economy if they have paid extra.
External links