
New nonstops between California and Madrid coming next spring on Iberia (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
In May 2018, Spain’s Iberia will launch regular non-stop service between Madrid and San Francisco, the first ever nonstop flight between the two cities.
Oakland was the first Bay Area airport to snag nonstops to Spain last year when two airlines, Level and Norwegian kicked off nonstops to Barcelona. Both Level and Iberia are owned by IAG, the airline conglomerate that also owns British Airways.
The Iberia flights will operate only three days per week (Mon, Weds, Fri). It will use an Airbus A330-200 on the route, with business (19 seats) and economy class (269 seats) only, no premium economy or first class. Iberia says that initially, the service will only be seasonal, running May-September.

Fares for midweek trips in mid May seem high right now
While it’s now possible to buy tickets on these flights, Iberia is not offering any introductory deals as of today— fares for May trips are in the $1,400 round trip range. Typically, May is a slow month for US to Europe travel and I expect we’ll soon see sale fares dip below $1,000 for SFO-MAD roundtrips. Business class is running about $4,400 round trip.
By comparison, Oakland-Barcelona fares for next May are currently running about $531 roundtrip on Norwegian Air, plus baggage and other fees.
Check out the seat map of Iberia’s A330-200 on Seatguru.com
Iberia is part of the Oneworld Alliance, which includes American Airlines and British Airways. Tickets are onsale now at www.iberia.com.
Have you or would you fly Iberia to Spain? And which is your favorite Spanish city: Madrid or Barcelona? Why? Please leave your comments below.
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