Review of Iberia flight Madrid Zurich in Economy

Airline Iberia
Flight IB3474
Class Economy
Seat --
Aircraft Airbus A319
Flight time 02:20
Take-off 04 Sep 19, 15:40
Arrival at 04 Sep 19, 18:00
IB   #48 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 346 reviews
Chibcha
By SILVER 648
Published on 16th July 2022

Intro


Hola Amigos,

Welcome to this FR on a Pre-COVID flight on Iberia between Madrid and Zurich (not that much has changed service-wise). 

A good friend of mine invited me to her home in Zurich, and since I still had some days for holidays, I looked over IB's app and found a very reasonable fare ( plus I wanted the Avios)…

So here it goes… 


At Madrid Barajas airport


I took the Metro to Terminal 4, where IB's hub is. As usual, a convenient and confortable ride


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On the way to the airport, IB mailed me about checking my bag for free, and that I could do it on one of the Business Class counters…I didn't hessitate.


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The whole deal was nice and quick, now if IB didn't charge for the seat selection, it would have been an almost perfect check in experience. Now off to security…


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It wasn't too crowded, and I was off to the AENA  Plaza Mayor Lounge in no time. Again, not too crowded…and I managed to have some chow and a G&T before my flight. If only the view was a bit leess underwhelming, it would be just perfect. At least I had a straight view to my future ride!



Boarding


I got a SMS telling me it was time to board and so I went to our small One World A319.

T4 has awesome architecture, but sometimes I feel it has a lot of wasted space… 


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A view to the big guys across the field


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It turns out this was the very same plane that took me to to Vienna a couple of months before.
It still had the old recaro seats, that were a pinch better than the current ones, albeit with a very tight legroom. 


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The cabin still sported IB's old logo. It's a shame they let it go. Cleaning, as you may see…was mediocre



I planned to pick up some slack with work while flying, but it was physically impossible


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now we were good to go


Taxi and Takeoff


Our little A319 was packed to the gills and now, we left the Airbus-centric hub behind, towards RWY 36R



En route, we crossed T4S with the big folk



And small folk too


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MAD is designed for the convenient taxi for T4 and T4S flights (this is not the case for the other terminals and airlines) and so we were off to Switzerland in no time!



Enroute to zurich


IB's European service is null. No IFE, BOB and…they are basically a bus that flies you across the continent.

The cabin looked dated…unfortunately it was not updated for something better… 


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I can't stop being amazed by how dry Iberia is and its contrast with the rest of the continent.


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No snow over the Pyrinees


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Now into France, flying just south of Lyon



We entered Switzerland over Geneva



Then, Bern came to view


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And we moved towards the German border


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Basel (?)


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I then lost my bearings…but we made a north to south approach to RWY14



Yep, we are in Switzerland


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Gruezi Zurii


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Another Airbus stronghold



We made it to Pier B/F, nothing extraorinary on the way to baggage claim…which did take some time to come out


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Once outside, my friend was waiting for me…concluding this trip and FR

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Verdict

Iberia

5.0/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew5.0
Entertainment/wifi2.5
Meal/catering5.0

Plaza Mayor Lounge

9.0/10
Comfort8.5
Meal/catering10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Services7.5

Madrid - MAD

9.1/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness10.0

Zurich - ZRH

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

Iberia is meh. Nothing extraordinary. I reckon the best thing about them is the convenience of T4, compared to the older terminal complex at MAD. I didn't even interact with the crew, so there's nothing to comment on that front. No IFE and BOB (which I didn't care for as I ate at the lounge) as I told you. En fin...

MAD was great as usual, so was ZRH.

Thanks for reading, saludos!

Information on the route Madrid (MAD) Zurich (ZRH)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 10 avis concernant 4 compagnies sur la ligne Madrid (MAD) → Zurich (ZRH).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est SWISS avec 7.8/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 17 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 607744 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    Indeed IB can be quite "meh" in short-haul Y. The addition of USB ports (and AC outlets further up front) on A320 and A321s have improved the experience a bit...though it seems the A319s have been forgotten as they still have old cabins--presumably because IB plan to retire them soon-ish.

    MAD T4 is lovely as usual.

    Thanks for sharing!

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