Iberia and Interjet’s presidents signed the agreement in presence of Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto./ Picture: Iberia’s courtesy.
The Diplomat. Madrid
The executive presidents of the Spanish airline Iberia and the Mexican Interjet, Luis Gallego and Miguel Alemán Magnani respectively, signed, yesterday, at the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) of Madrid, a extensive agreement on shared codes, in presence of the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, during his official visit to Spain.
According to the terms of the agreement, the first one signed by the Mexican airline, Iberia will be able to connect its 80 destinations in Spain, Europe, Africa and the Near East to 24 destinations of Mexico, which could turn into 36. Iberia offers two daily flights between Madrid and Mexico DF.
The routes will be gradually incorporated. In a first stage, business destinations such as Guadalajara, Bajío and Monterrey will have priority, as well as other sun and beach destinations such as Cancún and Huatulco. There will be more than one daily connection flight in these five cities.
Iberia’s president, Luis Gallego, affirmed after the signing: “we are delighted to have Interjet as a partner in Mexico, a company combining efficiency and good service for its clients. Thanks to this agreement, we will offer our clients in Spain, Europe and Mexico, convenient and competitive connections on both sides of the Atlantic”.
Miguel Alemán Magnani, Interjet’s president, said: “this agreement is really important not only for Interjet, but also for all Mexicans, because it contributes to the strengthening of air connectivity, business and tourism between both nations. Interjet and Iberia are showing the commitment they have mainly with their users”.
With this agreement, which will be set in motion once the corresponding permits of the Mexican authorities are granted, both companies want to underline the commitment they have with their respective countries to increase the tourist and business flow.
Iberia’s clients will be able to book their flights from or to cities covered by Interjet in Mexico bound to Madrid or to any of the other 79 Spanish and European cities. The sale will be carried out by Iberia through all its distribution channels (website, ticket offices and travel agencies), according to sources of the Spanish company.
Both Interjet and Iberia operate from Terminal 1 of the international airport Benito Juárez, in Mexico DF, which will make the passengers’ transfer easier. Besides, both airlines are working to reduce minimum stopovers between their flights.
This interline agreement of shared code has as main objective distributing in Mexico the business and pleasure traffic originated in Europe, especially in Spain.
The vanguard technology that Interjet has in its booking system has allowed complying with the requirements needed to develop the agreement of shared code in a record time of eight weeks. With this alliance, Iberia’s passengers “will be able to enjoy the excellent service and comfort offered by Interjet in all its flights”, assures a press release distributed by the Spanish company.
This is the first strategic alliance signed by Interjet with an international airline and it has planned to extend the agreement to be able to sell Iberia’s tickets through Interjet’s channels.
Iberia leads the market between Europe and Mexico, and Interjet leads domestic traffic in its country
This alliance does not include investments between the airlines. It is a strategic alliance to benefit clients.
The air company Interjet started its operations in December 2005. At the moment, it covers almost 40 national destinations with flights from and to the cities of Mexico, Toluca, Monterrey and Guadalajara. It has 12 international routes, reaching nine destinations abroad: Guatemala, La Habana, San Antonio, Miami, San José, Costa Rica, New York, Las Vegas and Bogotá. It operates an average of more than 260 flights a day.
Its fleet of 42 Airbus A320 and 7 Superjet 100, both models equipped with the latest technology, has cameras so that their passengers can see the plane’s takeoff and landing. The airline, thinking about its passengers comfort, removed 30 seats from the original configuration of the Airbus A320, which has capacity for 150 passengers, whereas the Superjet 100, originally configured for 103 passengers, has now 93 seats, being this the only airline in Mexico with the most space between the seats in a class above the tourist one.
Interjet is the airline transporting the most passengers in Mexico in national flights, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In 2013, it registered a participation of 24 per cent in the national market. Interjet’s air fleet is one of the most moderns in the world.
Iberia has been flying to Mexico since 1 March 1950. At the moment, it offers up to two daily flights between the Spanish and the Mexican capitals connected with the entire network of Iberia, which makes it leader in the market. Iberia is also leader between Europe and Latin America flying to more than 100 destinations in 38 countries of Europe, America, Africa and the Middle East. Along with its subsidiary Iberia Express and its franchised Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, it offers around 600 flights per day with a fleet of nearly 130 planes.
It is the third most punctual airline in the world, according to FlighStats. It offers convenient connections in its hub, the T4 of Madrid Barajas, chosen recently as the third best terminal of the world, according to the consultancy firm Skytrax. It is member of the oneworld alliance, offering more than 10,000 flights to almost 890 cities in more than 150 countries.
Video with the statements of Iberia and Interjet’s presidents: http://we.tl/msFMuApjOf
