The two large Spanish network airlines,
Iberia and Air Europa
, have started to
compete in sales
at the beginning of the year despite the prevailing doubts about the recovery of air traffic.
The
IAG
group company
has launched a campaign under the slogan "the normal thing with these prices is to let yourself go", while the
Globalia
subsidiary
has resorted to its usual
Time to Fly
with better prices than in previous years.
The third to open battle is the leader in the Spanish skies,
Ryanair
.
The latter has concentrated its sales campaign in the summer and ensures a discount of 30 euros on roundtrip bookings to travel from April 1 to October 31.
Reservations must be made before next Wednesday.
These are strategies to
anticipate income
after a disastrous 2020, in which the pandemic has reduced the cash flow of airlines to a minimum.
The claim to build trust is the
flexibility to change banknotes
.
And the competition leaves unusual prices.
If this morning Air Europa announced tickets on domestic flights starting at 19 euros when the round trip is purchased, Iberia has responded hours later with flights starting at 18 euros.
The latter will keep its offers until January 21 and reservations can be made for flights until December 14, excluding part of the summer, Easter and some long weekends.
Air Europa offers bargains until the 17th of this month to travel from today until December 15, except for the months of July and August, and tries to convince the consumer with the possibility of making a free change.
Regarding the exchange policy, its rival offers the free variations that are necessary in the reservations, as long as they are motivated by unforeseen events due to Covid-19.
Prices down
On domestic flights and on the Balearic Islands, Air Europa starts from the aforementioned 19 euros, when
last year's
Time To Fly
had a starting price of 25 euros.
The jumps to the Canary Islands and to different European destinations are available from 28 euros (35 euros in the 2020 start campaign).
For one euro more, Globalia's airline offers seats to different parts of North Africa.
And the prices to Tunisia or Casablanca start from 49 euros.
The expected reaction of Iberia has been produced with seats to Mallorca from 18 euros, to Ibiza for 23 euros, and a whole series of national destinations from 25 euros. The round trip to Tenerife can be found from 28 euros one way, amount That goes up to 39 euros when the destination is Lanzarote or Fuerteventura.
On long-haul flights, unusual prices have also been offered for customers of both airlines.
The
Air Europa
Time to Fly
promotion
allows you to reserve a place in New York or Miami from 99 euros each way (123 and 169 euros last year, respectively), according to the company this morning.
Flights to Latin America have a starting price of 219 euros.
In operations within European borders, Iberia promotes the trip to Lisbon, Porto or Nantes from 25 euros.
For 29 euros, places have been reserved in Paris, Lyon, Naples, Marseille, and for an additional ten euros, in Brussels, Rome or London.
In the jump to America, all Iberia destinations in the US have been included in the campaign: from 99 euros you can travel to Miami and New York;
the cheapest fare to Chicago or San Francisco is 130 euros;
You can get to Boston for 144 euros, and the flight to Los Angeles is offered from 225 euros.
To Latin America, Iberia has scheduled seats from 197 euros to Santiago de Chile, to a minimum of 275 to Havana, always each way.
Delicate moment
The two Spanish competitors have been in negotiations for more than a year for Air Europa to join Iberia.
The operation, which was valued at 1,000 million euros, has been marked during 2020 by the strong impact of the pandemic on air transport.
In fact, the airline chaired by Juan José Hidalgo has required an injection of 475 million in public credit, charged to
the Support Fund for the Solvency of Strategic Companies
.
Iberia, for its part, has accessed loans guaranteed by the ICO and its group, IAG, required a strong capital increase to strengthen the balance sheet in the midst of the crisis.
After that, the main shareholder of the holding, Qatar Airways with 25%, has defended this morning that the coronavirus vaccine will bring a "gradual recovery" in air traffic that should become visible in the second half of this year.
Until that time, Iberia claims to have operated in the final stretch of 2020 towards 70% of its usual destinations.
This includes 75 points in 30 countries in Europe, America and Africa, although with limited frequencies.
The company has anticipated this afternoon that it plans to increase flights to destinations such as
Bogotá, Medellín, Buenos Aires, Havana or Panama
, or to resume others, if the restrictions are lifted, such as
Caracas and San Juan de Puerto Rico
.
