Iberia to fly the Airbus A321XLR to new destinations in Brazil
Iberia has confirmed the launch of two new flights from Madrid to Brazil, to the tourist cities of Recife and Fortaleza, in the northeast region of the South American country.
The registration for the routes was already in the Brazilian civil aviation agency’s system, but was reserved for A350 aircraft.
However, the Spanish carrier has revealed that the two routes will be operated with the A321XLR, an ultra-long-range variant of the Airbus single-aisle jet.
The first route to begin will be Madrid-Recife on December 13, with three weekly frequencies that will increase to five flights per week in February.
Fortaleza will have three weekly flights starting January 19, 2026, with the addition of a fourth flight in February.
With the two new cities, Iberia will now fly to four destinations in Brazil – São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have already been served for many years.
In total, 284,000 seats will be made available between Spain and Brazil during the winter season in Europe.
Waiting for more A321XLR jets
Flights to the Brazilian Northeast were already in the plans of the IAG Group airline, which anticipated the operation of the A321XLR, capable of flying nonstop for up to 8,700 km – Iberia reports a shorter range of 7,500 km.
Configured with 182 seats in two classes, the A321XLR made its debut last November with Iberia itself and today flies to Boston, Washington and, more recently, to New York.
Iberia, however, only has one aircraft in its fleet so far, but expects another seven A321XLRs in the coming months.
“We believe that Brazil has great potential beyond the major cities we already fly to. With the new A321XLRs, we can explore new routes, test acceptance and gradually adapt supply to demand,” said María Jesús López Solás, the company’s head of customer service.
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Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
