Iberia, Spain’s national airline, operates a number of flights within europe from its hub in Madrid. We tried out the Iberia A320 business class from Madrid to Prague – a flight of just under three hours.

Check-in & Lounge

Our Iberia A320 business class flight was departing from Madrid Barajas Terminal 4. It’s one of my favourite airport terminals. Its design is innovative, although there can be some long walks to reach your gate.

Iberia have a dedicated check-in area for passengers travelling in Business Class. For this journey, we were connecting from Valencia (you can see our review of Iberia Regional/Air Nostrum in business class here). This meant we didn’t need to check-in again at Madrid.

If you’re starting your journey in Madrid though, Iberia have a dedicated business class check-in area. I frequently use this and rarely have to wait more than ten minutes to complete check-in. Once you’ve checked in, you can use the fast-track security lane. Again, this is usually a very quick and efficient process.

Once through security, the Iberia lounge is a thirty second walk, and is located on the same level. It’s a very good lounge, and you can read our full review here.

Iberia A320 Business Class Cabin

As is the case with the vast majority of airlines in Europe, there isn’t a great deal of difference between the cabins in business and economy. The main difference is that the middle seat is blocked. This gives a slight sense of added space, and is particularly nice if you’re travelling as a couple.

We were seated in 2A and 2C. If you can, I’d recommend trying to sit in the front row. Unfortunately, these seats weren’t available when we booked.

For this flight, there were 3 rows of business class. A movable curtain seaparates the cabin from economy and the toilet at the front of the cabin is reserved for business. Iberia’s cabins look a little sterile in my opinion, largely due to the grey colour tone.

There isn’t a great deal of legroom, although it was fine for a flight of this length. There are also dedicated power plugs, which are useful if you want to work during the flight.

Iberia A320 Business Class Service

The service onboard was good. Iberia, in my experience, is very consistent. The service is rarely outstanding, but it tends to be efficient and I always find the crew to be pleasant.

Asking for additional drinks, and using the call bell, is never a problem and the service was quick throughout.

Iberia A320 Business Class Food and Drinks

In recent years, Iberia has made noticeable improvements to its inflight catering. On this flight, we were served a lunch. While it isn’t possible to pre-order your choice, you can always check the menu in advance of your flight on Iberia’s website. This is a nice touch, and allows you to decide whether you’d prefer to grab something in the lounge beforehand (time permitting) or eat onboard.

There is no choice for the starter or dessert. For the main course though, you can choose between two different options. On this flight, the choice was either a braised pork shank, or baked polenta.

We opted for the pork shank. This was served alongside a choice of bread, a smoked salmon starter and a passion fruit panna cotta dessert.

The main meal is all served on one tray, and a selection of drinks were offered. The starter and main course were very good, and presented well. The dessert, however, was disappointing with a strange taste and texture.

Iberia’s wine selection on short-haul business class flights is somewhat disappointing compared to flying long-haul. There were a couple of different red and white wines to choose from, although they’re all served in miniature bottles and fairly unremarkable.

Conclusions

It’s difficult to conclude whether or not the Iberia A320 business class product is worth it. For me, it largely depends on price. If the cost over economy is fairly small, it can be a nice way to travel. Likewise, many people will be travelling short-haul business because they’re connecting from a long-haul flight.

The small amount of extra space, as well as the included food and drink make the time pass a little faster, and it’s definitely a nicer way to travel than economy. It’s also a better proposition when you’re travelling on a slightly longer short-haul flight within Europe, as this flight was.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and it was a fairly good flight.