Departure experience
Getting to the airport from downtown Lisbon in the morning was both quick and easy with just a few kilometers to drive and little traffic. We reached the airport in less than 15 minutes. Most of the time was actually spent queueing to get to the terminal building as the traffic works in the area reduced the number of lanes available in front of the terminal.
When I entered the terminal it was 90 minutes until departure to Madrid. I had already checked in online on the Iberia webpage and was travelling with only hand luggage, so I just visited a self-service machine to print my boarding passes. There were four desks open for Iberia, next to IAG partner British Airways, but with long lines. Printing the boarding passes myself using a machine was much quicker and easier.
The departure hall at Lisbon Portela airport is quite small and is divided into several areas, and there were literally people everywhere. Both people queueing for different check-in desks and friends and family to passengers. The terminal was packed.
Also the lines for the security control was long but fortunately there was a fast track channel which I had access to travelling in business class. After scanning my boarding pass at a turnstile I was allowed inside the fast track area, which was separate from the regular security checkpoint. It saved a considerable amount of time.
The transit hall in Lisbon is quite pleasant with an interesting design and plenty of shopping. But just like the departure hall it is fairly small and not really sufficient for all the passengers passing through the airport at peak time.
I made a quick visit to the ANA Lounge which is the major third-party lounge at the airport. And by the way, ANA in this case is the Portuguese airport company and not the Japanese airline. It was absolutely packed and I left rather quickly.
Iberia uses the Blue Lounge, the second third-party lounge at the airport. It is significantly smaller, divided into two identical lounge areas to the left and to the right of the reception desk, with white sofas and a small selection of drinks and snacks. Nothing to write home about, but as the name suggests, it is quite blue indeed.
I had visited in the past, many years ago, when it was used by Lufthansa. It looked fairly similar back then but of course the interior has been renovated and modernised since those days. The main benefit of this lounge is the location, usually very close to the gates used by Iberia.
Read the full lounge review here!
The flight
Lisbon-Madrid
Iberia flight IB 3111
Departure: 09.55
Arrival: 12.10
Business Class
Airbus A320
Seat 03A
Boarding started around 25 minutes before departure from a gate just 30 seconds from the lounge. There was a separate line for business class passengers and premium passengers at the gate, but as we were to be taken to the aircraft by bus it made little difference at the end. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, was parked at the opposite end of the apron.
First impression
I was greeted by a friendly cabin crew at the aircraft door and quickly found my seat on the third row. The cabin load was light in both business class and economy class with only four passengers in front of the curtain. The aircraft was an Airbus A320 with the standard intra-Europe products and configuration
As the last passengers were boarding the female purser came to my seat to introduce herself and welcome me onboard, happy to have me as a frequent flyer onboard her flight. We did some small talk and she had also noticed I had a connecting flight and informed me where to proceed upon arrival in Madrid. This was a very nice touch and was obviously done thanks to my OneWorld Emerald card.
Before departure Spanish and international newspapers were offered by the crew.
Pushback right on time. The weather was just lovely in the Lisbon area with a beautiful view of the surroundings just after takeoff. The flight time was expected to be one hour.
Seat and cabin
There were three rows assigned to business class with a 2-2 configuration and a blocked middle seat rather than a 3-3 configuration. The empty middle seat obviously provides more space and better comfort in business class, but with a light load I had an empty row anyway.
The seats were in dark grey leather, quite comfortable to sit in and with a good legroom for an intra-Europe flight. On the Airbus A320 aircrafts the legroom is usually better on the first 5-6 rows than in the rest of the aircraft with roughly 2-3 inches more legroom.
Food and drinks
A full breakfast service was offered to Madrid, surprisingly extensive for a short flight. It even included a hot meal, which is certainly above average for a flight of one hour within Europe.
The breakfast tray included yoghurt, a bowl with fresh fruits, toast, a croissant, butter and marmalade. The flight attendant offered coffee, tea and orange juice as well as more bread rolls.
The hot item was an omelette with tomato sauce. Overall the breakfast was very nice and well above my expectations. No trolleys were used, instead the trays and all drinks were delivered directly from the galley.
I was offered a refill of the coffee which I happily accepted. The meal tray was removed and instead the coffee was delivered on a separate plate with cream and sugar.
The service
The service was very attentive and the female purser and the male flight attendant who served in business class were both friendly and spoke excellent English. And of course an extra plus for the recognition as Emerald and another plus for serving both food and drinks from the galley rather than using trolleys in the cabin. It definitely enhances the experience.
Arrival experience
The flight passed quickly and the final minutes of the flight provided an excellent view of downtown Madrid and the suburbs, with some interesting sceneries.
We landed from the south a few minutes ahead of timetable and taxied to terminal 4, the standard terminal used by all Iberia flights, with the main terminal building used for mainly Schengen flights and the satellite building, terminal 4S, for non-Schengen flights.
Final impression
A very pleasant experience with Iberia. Excellent breakfast service for a one hour flight with a hot meal, friendly crew and very nice to get some status recognition.
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