Spain’s flag carrier Iberia operate a daily flight from Madrid to London using an Airbus A350. This is a massive upgrade over their standard Airbus A320 and makes it one of the few flights within Europe where you can get a full lie flat long heal business class seat. I paid £235 for a one-way flight to test out the Iberia Business Class. A couple of factors, including a 2 hour delay meant I had a very mixed experience.
So please read my full review below or watch my Youtube review for a more visual representation:
How to make sure you get the best seats.
When choosing you’re flight you’ll have to check what type of aircraft they are using. On every flight from London to Madrid you can choose economy or business. However, the majority of flights operate an Airbus A320 whilst only one flight a day uses an Airbus A330 or A350. This means for exactly the same price you’ll get a tv to watch (even in economy) and a lie flat seat in business if you choose the A330/A350 flight. It’s also much better for those in economy too as they market premium economy seats as economy. This means for a cheap economy ticket you can get a much comfier premium economy seat.
And before choosing your seat you definitely need to consider the seat map as not all seats are created equal. Specifically even number seats in the centre block (i.e 2D, 4H etc) and odd seats on the window blocks. This is because they are completely exposed to the aisle giving you no privacy and very bad view out the window. You’ll also constantly have people brushing past you throughout the flight. Unfortunately when I booked no window seats were available so I has to sit in seat 2J, which was bad.
They do offer good seats for couples though. Every odd numbered row in the centre aisle has two side by side seats giving you your own little cubicle. Which is nice if you’re next to someone you know. Not so nice if it’s a stranger.
Premium Velazquez Lounge
Flying Iberia Business Class you have two lounge choices in Terminal 4, one in the main building and one in the satellite terminal. Access is restricted to passengers flying business class with Iberia or another Oneworld airline, or people who hold status with Iberia or another Oneworld airline. Since I was flying business and my gate was in the satellite terminal, this was the perfect opportunity to visit their flagship Velazquez Premium Lounge. I wrote a full review of the lounge here, but long story short, it is great.
This lounge is much better than the British Airways lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 for example. For starters it is actually kept clean and is quiet and calm. The food choice was admitedly quite limited but all quite tasty (except their terrible tiramisu). There are many seating options, each with their own power socket & USB port. Showers and a rest area are available for long layovers. They even have an a l carte restaurant (which sadly was closed when I went.
Airbus A350 & Seat Overview
The seat was unsurprisingly the highlight of this short flight. Simply put it is in a different league to most business class offering for short haul flights in Europe. The only comparable options would be:
- Finnair’s Airbus A350 from London to Helsinki. Finnair have recently upgraded their business class seats and they are supposedly revolutionary. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to try later this year.
- Turkish Airlines connect several European capitals to Istanbul with Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s. Many of their business seats are outdated and lacking in privacy, but certainly better than nothing.
Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of Iberia’s business class seats. They do feel a bit dated and the aisle seats especially are poorly placed. This results in people constantly brushing past as they walk the aisle and no privacy. Additionally the seat is surprisingly hard, and the lack of a pillow being provided actually made me quite uncomfortable by the end of the 2 hour flight.
I’ve actually flown on one of these seats from Madrid to Lima and it also was poor compared to other airlines like British Airways and Cathay Pacific. Whilst they do provide a pillow and blanket on longer flights the seat is still hard and lacking in support.
On the bright side though the entertainment system is excellent with a massive screen, easy to use controls and good selection to watch. Given that, it’s a massive shame that my headphones were broken. As soon as I picked them up one of the earpads fell off basically making them unusable.
Food & Service
Now the food and drink on this flight was a mixed bag, but overall positive. Most of my gripes though would only be negative if this were a longer flight. On a short haul flight like this it’s understandable they would cut a few corners.
Firstly, unlike many business class flights there was no welcome drink on boarding. Presumably because there is less time spend boarding for short haul flights. Still, it would have been a nice addition. Similarly, another constraint of short haul flight food is the presentation. Whilst on a flight from say, London to Singapore, you could expect a full service with individual courses, on this flight we were just given a tray with everything on. No major problem as there wasn’t time for a proper service. But it did mean the tray was overly crowded. And it would have been nice if they’d removed the foil and plastic lids on each plate.
The food itself though was mostly good. To start we had a Russian Salad (basically potato salad) and roast beef. Followed by a choice of artichoke ravioli or stuffed aubergine with prawns. I opted for the aubergine whilst my partner went for the pasta. Of the two the pasta was definitely better but both were quite bland. The stuffed aubergine especially had congealed into some amorphous blob. On the plus side, the portion sizes were huges. Probably the biggest meal I’ve had on any flight, regardless of length.
This was served alongside some warm and fresh bread and butter. For dessert was a tasty tiramisu and to there were a variety of drink choices. I went for a Spanish white wine, which was not half bad. Finally after the main meal we were given a choice of hot drinks and a chocolate. I had some green tea.
Overall the Iberia Business Class food offering was good, but a bit bland and lacking in presentation. The portion size was impressive though. For comparison, British Airway’s Club Europe meal has in my experience been tastier, but about half as much food was served.
Bottom Line
Firstly, it’s worth considering the Iberia Business Class seat for both short haul and long haul. On short haul I wholeheartedly recommend it, even if certain aspects like comfort and service are lacking. For £235 this is a great deal and tiers above a typical business class offered on many intra-Europe flights (and even Iberia’s own A320 business class).
For long haul flights however the propisition becomes a lot trickier. Speaking from experience on my 12 hour flight from Madrid to Lima, this seat is not great on long flights. The entertainment system is good, and it’s nice being able to lie completely flat. However, the seat is hard, food is below average compared to other airlines, and service is mediocre. I’ve flown Cathay Pacific‘s excellent business class from Hong Kong to London and honestly every aspect was better than Iberia. Lovely cabin crew who remembered my name, delicious food, a much comfier seat. Even flying for 13 hours in economy with Japan Airlines I felt much more positive about that flight than any with Iberia. I don’t like to be overly negative but I do Iberia offer a pretty weak business class product.
More from me…
Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- British Airways Club Europe London to Geneva – Another “business class” short haul flight
- Norse Atlantic Airways Premium from London to Oslo – Another unique widebody flight within Europe
- Best Airline Reward Programs – What I think are the best airline reward programs from each alliance, for those based in the UK.
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- The Platinum Card – You Receive 50,000 Membership Reward points after spending £3,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGgRA5?CPID=100493012
- British Airways Card: You Receive 8,000 Avios after spending £1,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEG42lN?CPID=100503089