Iberia to expand Barcelona MRO base

Iberia Maintenance, a subsidiary of Iberia, has announced it will expand its maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities at Barcelona El Prat airport, including the construction of a new A320 Family maintenance facility for IAG International Airlines Group low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines (VY, Barcelona El Prat). The Spanish carrier said it would upgrade its existing MRO base to a “full heavy maintenance facility” for Vueling’s A320s. Currently, the base is certified to conduct C-Checks on Iberia’s aircraft. Iberia Maintenance will continue to provide line maintenance services for other aircraft types, including widebody aircraft, both in-house and to third-party carriers. Iberia Maintenance said that the investment would create an additional 300 jobs. According to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module, Iberia itself does not currently base any aircraft out of Barcelona but rather concentrates its operations at Madrid Barajas airport. Vueling, in turn, is heavily Barcelona-centred, with the Catalan airport having a 29.1% market share by departure capacity in its current network. The LCC is the largest operator in Barcelona with a 52.6% market share by capacity, the ch-aviation capacities module shows. Vueling currently operates six A319-100s, seventy-six A320-200s, twenty-five A320-200Ns, and eighteen A321-200s.