The latest partnership between airlines is that of IB, QR and BA. The Spanish, Qatari and British carriers are forging an alliance inside the oneworld alliance, to form a force that will give all three partners formidable reach across the world.
Iberia is joining oneworld alliance partners British Airways and Qatar Airways in a new partnership that allows it to offer increased worldwide connectivity through Doha, London and Madrid, according to European trade press.
From December 11, the Spanish airline will operate daily flights between Madrid and Doha, using Airbus A330-200s, split between Business Plus with 19 flatbed seats, and economy class with 269 seats.
Iberia and Qatar’s combined services will operate three times daily on the Madrid-Doha route.
Adding Madrid allows Iberia’s network across the Iberian Peninsula and South America more access to key markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia via Doha.
Iberia has a strong network to Latin America, which will benefit Qatar Airways, and Qatar has strength in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa. British Airways has a strong network to North America and is currently rebuilding its capacity to Asia, especially China.
The partnership gives premium passengers the opportunity to take advantage of other partner premium products, including Qatar Airways’ QSuite, Iberia’s business class and BA’s Club Suite.
This will enable frequent flyers to collect Avios points on routes to over 200 destinations between the three global airlines. Qatar and BA already use Avios as their frequent flyer mile currency. Loyalty members of all tiers can combine their balances and transfer Avios between accounts at different programmes to find the best tickets.
BA and Qatar Airways completed their joint business partnership in September last year – it already covers 185 destinations in sixty countries.
Iberia CEO Fernando Candela said that through the hubs of London and Doha, the airlines are jointly building the much-desired bridge between Spain and more than 200 destinations in Asia, Australasia, the Middle East and Africa.
