Iberia and Pegasus Airlines to establish a codeshare agreement for US to Turkey traffic

Iberia and Pegasus Airlines have requested the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) approval for the two airlines to codeshare on routes between the United States and Madrid, Spain, to ease the Turkish carrier’s passengers’ journeys between the United States and Turkey.

On September 30, 2025, Iberia and Pegasus jointly applied for authorization to begin codeshare services on two transatlantic routes, namely between Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) and Miami International Airport (MIA) and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

According to the DOT filing, the goal of the codeshare agreement, which would place Pegasus Airlines’ designator code ‘PC’ on Iberia’s flights from MAD to MIA and JFK, is to transport the Turkish carrier’s travelers between the US and Turkey.

The Spanish carrier requested a waiver of the 45-day advance filing requirement to “enable the carriers to promptly begin marketing and selling these services following receipt of Department and other applicable governmental approvals.”

If approved, the codeshare agreement would benefit travelers by “providing enhanced connectivity and additional travel options for passengers travelling” between the US and Turkey via MAD.

However, the DOT also has to green-light Pegasus Airlines to carry passengers and cargo between the US and Turkey, as well as to destinations inside the country and beyond, since the Turkish carrier has never applied for authorization to do so.

Pegasus Airlines is not listed as a codeshare partner on Iberia’s page about its airline partnerships, and the Turkish airline’s only codeshares are with flynas and Nile Air, carriers based in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, respectively, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi.

The Turkish carrier has scheduled 11 weekly flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) to MAD, while surprisingly, Iberia has no scheduled flights from MAD to any airports in Turkey in October 2025, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.

Still, the codeshare partnership could open up new frontiers for Turkish passengers to fly to the US. Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that in October 2025, only Turkish Airlines has direct connections to 14 airports in the US, including MIA and JFK.

Turkish Airlines and Iberia, or rather its parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), have a shared interest: Air Europa. While IAG gave up on its attempt to acquire the remaining 80% of shares from Globalia for Air Europa, it has kept its 20% stake – at least for now – as Turkish Airlines announced its own planned investment in the Spanish airline.

According to Turkish Airlines’ statement on August 19, 2025, it will invest around €300 million ($352.6 million) into Air Europa to strenghten its “strategic position in the global aviation industry and increasing the number of tourists visiting Türkiye along with the related economic contribution by opening new tourism markets in Latin America and expanding passenger and cargo flight network between Spain and Turkey.”

Fitch Ratings estimated that Turkish Airlines’ likely stake in Air Europa would be between 25% and 30%, with the Turkish carrier assuming that it would gain the necessary regulatory approvals to complete the transaction within the next six to 12 months.

Turkish Airlines outlined that Air Europa, which directly competes with Iberia and the rest of IAG at MAD, ended 2024 with an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR) margin of 22.5% and revenues of €2.6 billion ($3 million).

The big prize, which IAG was after as well, is Air Europa’s reach across South America. Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that Turkish Airlines has scheduled flights to five destinations across the continent in October 2025, while the Spanish carrier’s South American Network encompasses 13 airports.

Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL) is the only airport served by Turkish Airlines, but not by Air Europa in October 2025, according to the tool.

Nevertheless, unlike Iberia, which includes its low-cost carrier arm Iberia Express, Air Europa has daily flights to Istanbul Airport (IST), complemented by Turkish Airlines’ up to four daily departures between IST and MAD, providing options for Spanish and Turkish travelers to reach either nation’s capital.

The only IAG-owned airline that flies from Spain to Turkey is Vueling, with the low-cost carrier having scheduled daily flights from Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN) to IST in October 2025.

It remains to be seen whether Iberia will try to plug the gap between MAD and IST, considering that Pegasus Airlines does not fly from the latter, but rather utilizes the Turkish city’s other airport, SAW.

At the same time, I really do not see a realistic scenario where, if Iberia were to return to flying to Turkey, it would opt to schedule its arrivals from Spain at SAW, rather than IST.

For Iberia, the codeshare would provide additional connecting passengers to fly between MAD and the US. Considering the language of the filing, including that the two routes were described as “initial” and that the two airlines requested blanket authorization, one could assume that the codeshare network could expand to more destinations in the US after the DOT’s initial approval.