Iberia to start new subsidary

[flying_kiwi]

Iberia has been given the go-ahead by parent company IAG to launch their new subsidary Iberia Express next summer.
The new company will operate as part of Iberia's short- and medium-haul network with A320 in two class config. Both point-to-point services as well as the feeding of tranfer passengers into Iberia's Madrid hub are planned.

There were rumours that Iberia were looking to start a new low-cost subsidary, so this is confirmation of that.
Should be interesting to see whether IB Express gets it's own branding, or whether the aircraft remain in Iberia colours with a little "operated by" sticker next to the entry door.

Source

Yorden

[ehusmann]

Should be interesting to see whether IB Express gets it's own branding, or whether the aircraft remain in Iberia colours with a little "operated by" sticker next to the entry door.

Probably neither. I expect it to be just an operating subsidiary that will be able to operate on a lower costbase than normal Iberia operations. Cabin crew and possibly cockpit crew will be hired by this subsidiary instead of mainline Iberia, for lower wages of course. As it looks now, nothing will change to the cabin products or branding. Except of course, lower wages will probably mean even less interested crew members....

Erwin

[flying_kiwi]

Should be interesting to see whether IB Express gets it's own branding, or whether the aircraft remain in Iberia colours with a little "operated by" sticker next to the entry door.

Probably neither. I expect it to be just an operating subsidiary that will be able to operate on a lower costbase than normal Iberia operations.

But as it'll be a separate company, they'll have to have an "operated by" sticker, as it won't be an Iberia aircraft.
They won't be able to put IB Express crews on IB aircraft without annoying the unions.

[phkza]

Ahh, a new loco subsidiary... cause that's worked very well for them in te past

I don't see the point. Okay, they want to save money, which is great, but starting a lowcost carrier? Lots of other airlines tried that and failed (Delta, United, KLM, etc.). Can we expect European service to be 'dressed down' to old IB A320's with even less service? I don't think this is a good idea...

[ehusmann]

But as it'll be a separate company, they'll have to have an "operated by" sticker, as it won't be an Iberia aircraft.
They won't be able to put IB Express crews on IB aircraft without annoying the unions.

I do not know the laws regarding that stuff, but as far as I understand it, it is exactly what BA is doing already as well. Separate company (or better, subsidiary) manning the planes flying from Gatwick.
W'll see, but in any case I do not think what phkza refers to is going to happen. It will remain Iberia as it is (which is very basic service already by the way), it will not be another ClickAir. For the passenger nothing will change.

Erwin

[flying_kiwi]

I do not know the laws regarding that stuff, but as far as I understand it, it is exactly what BA is doing already as well. Separate company (or better, subsidiary) manning the planes flying from Gatwick.

To my knowledge, the BA Gatwick operation is not a separate company. It's because they mainly operate B737s instead of A32Xs, that they are able to have a different cost structure.

Ahh, a new loco subsidiary... cause that's worked very well for them in te past

I don't see the point. Okay, they want to save money, which is great, but starting a lowcost carrier? Lots of other airlines tried that and failed (Delta, United, KLM, etc.). Can we expect European service to be 'dressed down' to old IB A320's with even less service? I don't think this is a good idea...

Low cost is not the same as low fare. The term low cost gets used when what a person means is low fares, which causes confusion.
An airline can have low costs without low airfares. This is what Iberia is trying to do, lower their costs in order to make their short-/medium-haul operation profitable. Air New Zealand used to have a similar operation with their A320 fleet (ZEAL320), although thats now been merged into the parent operation.

Yorden

[ehusmann]

I do not know the laws regarding that stuff, but as far as I understand it, it is exactly what BA is doing already as well. Separate company (or better, subsidiary) manning the planes flying from Gatwick.

To my knowledge, the BA Gatwick operation is not a separate company. It's because they mainly operate B737s instead of A32Xs, that they are able to have a different cost structure.

Fair enough. So maybe we have just seen the call that will lead to a renewed Boeing presence with Iberia...
No, seriously, in the end they might have "operated by" stickers then in order to have it legally fixed. But other than that normal Iberia livery. It will not be like the ClickAir venture earlier, or a anything similar to the Air Nostrum operations. In my believe that is.

Erwin