Despite the short duration of the flight, Iberia pleasantly surprised me on this Barcelona-Madrid flight with a more than satisfactory service.

So it’s time to go back to Paris after this Barcelona escapade for my birthday. As a reminder, the routing of this trip :

As well as all the articles related to it (I advise you in particular to read those on the two starred restaurants where I had the opportunity to dine).

Booking

Just to remind you the story of the booking of this flight because it is not often that I fly on OneWorld. It was impossible to find a good business fare on Star Alliance, at least not at times that were convenient for me.

Air France was quite expensive in economy and unaffordable in business.

So it’s a bit by lack of choice that I chose Iberia even if I was very pleasantly surprised by the service offered on the outbound trip.

Check in and ground course

I did my check-in online and unlike the outbound flight I had no trouble getting my two boarding passes.

I arrive at the airport by cab.

There is a bit of a wait at the security checks.

On the other hand it is the absolute desert at the priority lane.

Checks will be passed in less time than it takes to write it.

I then go to the lounge. Iberia operates two lounges in this terminal, one generic, the other dedicated to the Barcelona-Madrid “shuttle”.

I won’t see where the first one is, and the second one is at the very end of the terminal, near the door where the shuttle leaves from. the walk is very very long to get there but at least, then, it’s a few meters from the door.

The lounge

It is not an Iberia lounge but a contract lounge operated by aena and common to a number of airlines.

It is large, bright and almost empty.

The catering offer is decent without being exceptional. However, there are hot dishes.

The hot dishes will not leave me an imperishable memory, but as always in Spain, the cheeses and cold cuts are of excellent quality.

The offer of drinks is quite solid.

Importantly, the toilets are large and impeccably maintained.

From the lounge I have a nice view on the tarmac which allows me to see that at 2:55 pm the plane is still not there...it will be complicated to board at 3:05 pm.

Seeing it showing up, I leave some time for the passengers to disembark and head for the boarding gate.

The Boarding

It is 3:17 pm and the screens still indicate a boarding at 3:05 pm…

The boarding begins in a frightening slowness. I move forward in the gateway and there we are once again stopped because the cabin is not ready. I will end up getting in a little before 3:30 pm.

Watch the queue of Economy passengers:

For the record, boarding will end at 3:50 pm.

The cabin

It looks very flattering with its leather seats, even if I personally find them a bit hard for my taste.

Legroom is good without being exceptional. I have had better experiences with Lufthansa or TAP to name a few.

In the end we will be 9 passengers on the 3 rows of business class.

Throughout the boarding process I would see an Iberia pilot sitting in the cabin having several very animated discussions on the phone. Obviously it was the pilot of the flight that had just arrivedand the reason for these heated exchanges was the cause of the delay. But I did not understand more.

It is time to leave.

The flight and the service

We push back and it’s time to say goodbye to the terminal.

We align on the runway and we take off.

At the end of March, we can’t say that the sun was out, while Paris was enjoying a very spring-like weather.

Fortunately, up there, the sky is always blue.

The crew quickly asks us what we want to drink and the drinks are brought with a cheese and ham wrap.

I had been very pleasantly surprised by the tapas on the way there, this is even better.

It’s very fresh, the cheese and ham look great. For such a short flight I am very pleasantly surprised.

Bad surprise for my neighbor: while unfolding his tray table he realizes that it still carries the vestiges of the meal of the preceding flight. The flight attendant will clean up promptly without him even having to ask.

We must eat quickly, we are already announced the beginning of the descent.

Landing and arrival

We cross again the cloudy layer: the weather is not better in Madrid than in Barcelona.

After a soft landing we head for the terminal.

I am among the first to disembark and rush to the other end of the terminal to reach the boarding gate for my flight to Paris. With the delay I will not have time to make a detour to the lounge.

The Crew

Difficult to judge on such a short flight. They were professional, efficient and friendly.

Bottom line

Not much to say about this more than short flight, however I was pleasantly surprised by the service served in flight, fearing that on such a duration one is satisfied with a glass of water as what I knew for example on TAP between Lisbon and Faro a few weeks earlier.

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