Iberia to launch Airbus A321XLR flights to Newark

Iberia has announced that with the beginning of the summer season, its Airbus A321XLR aircraft will begin flying between Madrid, Spain, and Newark, New Jersey, the United States, with the A321XLR being redeployed from serving New York’s other airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

On November 25, 2025, Iberia said that with the beginning of the airline summer 2026 season on March 29, 2026, it will offer a daily flight from Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), complementing its currently planned double-daily flights from MAD to JFK.

According to María Jesús López Solás, the Chief Commercial, Network Development, and Alliances Officer at Iberia, the new flight between MAD and EWR was just one of the examples of how the Spanish airline is progressing to achieve its goals outlined in the ‘Flight Plan 2030’ strategy.

“The addition of Newark not only strengthens our presence in New York with a third daily frequency but also expands options for our customers by offering greater flexibility in schedules and fares, along with the advantages of multi-frequency service.”

Solás also highlighted that diversifying its route network by serving the two New York area airports allows Iberia to optimize its operations and adapt to market needs, despite the fact that EWR has been notorious for flight disruptions.

In September, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extended its flight limitations at EWR from October to October 2026, which it initially announced in June, imposing a maximum limit of 72 hourly operations at the airport.

When it extended its previous order, it said that “the staffing levels at EWR have not materially changed since the FAA hosted delay reduction meetings earlier this year,” adding that it had come to the conclusion that “significant delay and operational disruption would occur at EWR if the June 2025 order were to expire as originally scheduled.”

“Now, the FAA issues this one-year extension of the June 2025 order to address staffing shortfalls and provide additional time for controller onboarding and training.”

During this winter 2025/2026 season, Iberia will have six long-haul destinations that it will serve with the A321XLR, with some starting in December (Recife Airport, REC) or January 2026 (Fortaleza Pinto Martins International Airport, FOR). These are displayed below.

However, with the onset of the summer 2026 season, Iberia will make changes to its A321XLR long-haul network, according to data from Cirium’s Diio Mi.

For one, one of the daily MAD-JFK services will switch to the A350-900, while in June, Iberia will launch services to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), operating five times per week.

Iberia’s summer 2026 season A321XLR network is thus scheduled to look like this, which could still change during the next few weeks:

When the Spanish airline celebrated the one-year anniversary of long-haul A321XLR services on November 14, it said that at the time, it had five of the long-haul narrowbodies, with a further three joining its fleet by the end of 2026.

One of the remaining three arrived at MAD on November 20. The A321XLR, registered as EC-OQG, is yet to enter service following its delivery flight on that day, according to Flightradar24 data.

Cirium’s Diio Mi also showed that United Airlines, and before their merger, Continental Airlines, were the only airlines to fly between MAD and EWR since at least 2000. 

While MAD has been Iberia’s main hub, it had little to no incentive to fly to EWR instead of JFK, considering that its joint venture and oneworld partner, American Airlines, has had only a handful of routes from EWR, since its main airports in the New York area historically have been JFK and LaGuardia Airport (LGA).

(Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that in November, American Airlines has flights to five airports from EWR, all of them being its other hubs, including Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).)

Now, with the A321XLR in its fleet, which can support long-haul operations with lower operating costs compared to a widebody aircraft, Iberia has an opportunity to explore the viability of services between MAD and EWR.