In bright winter weather, both flights landed right on schedule. Passengers and crew members were delighted by the warm welcome in Innsbruck, featuring a brass band, traditional costume attendants and representatives from the tourism sector.
Innsbruck Airport Managing Director Marco Pernetta described the two inaugural flights as something special: “Welcoming two inaugural flights within just a few hours is certainly not an everyday occurrence. I am also particularly pleased that, as of today, we are connected to two new important international hubs.” He continued: “I hope that the cooperation with our new airline partners Iberia and LOT Polish Airlines will be strengthened beyond the 2024/25 winter season and that opportunities will arise to further expand these partnerships in the future.”
Inaugural flight 1: Madrid in the morning
The 67 passengers on flight IB801 from Madrid to Innsbruck experienced a picture-perfect approach early in the morning. The aircraft landed at Innsbruck Airport at 09:13 a.m. The new direct connection will operate throughout the winter season until 26 March 2025, with flights every Wednesday and Sunday using an Airbus A320neo. The route connects Innsbruck Airport to Iberia’s hub in Madrid, which is a particularly important transfer hub for North and South America.
Iberia is a member of the oneworld airline alliance and part of the International Airline Group (IAG), which also includes British Airways. As a result, many additional flight combinations are possible by combining Iberia and British Airways services. Spanish guests travelling to Tyrol now benefit from two attractive weekly flight connections during the winter season.
Carmen Giraud, Iberia’s Sales Manager Europe, highlighted the significance of the new route with figures:
“The launch of a new route is truly exciting. Innsbruck is now our third destination in Austria and the 143rd destination for the airline. From today until 26 March, we are offering two weekly frequencies, which corresponds to around 11,500 seats during this winter season.”
Inaugural flight 2: Warsaw in the afternoon
At 3:12 p.m., the second inaugural flight of the day took place. Flight LO229, operated with a B737-800 from Warsaw, landed with 63 passengers under excellent weather conditions. LOT Polish Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, will connect Innsbruck with the Polish capital Warsaw until 30 March 2025. Polish guests planning their winter holidays in Tyrol now have the opportunity to fly non-stop to Innsbruck. Poland is among Tyrol’s top ten source markets. At the same time, the new connection offers Tyrolean residents the opportunity to visit Warsaw or to connect via Warsaw to the global route network of LOT Polish Airlines.
Further new routes to be launched by 21 December
Austrian Airlines will introduce a direct connection to Warsaw on Saturday, 7 December, further expanding services to and from Poland. In addition, Austrian Airlines will offer a new Saturday service to Brussels from 21 December.
Eurowings will increase the Hamburg connection from 16 December (Mondays), raising the frequency to five weekly flights.
easyJet will introduce a new Sunday service to Birmingham starting 15 December.
The full flight schedule from Innsbruck can be found here.
Today’s newly launched routes to/from Madrid and Warsaw in detail
Madrid (MAD) mit Iberia
IB 802 Innsbruck 10:20 Madrid 13:05 Wednesday, Sunday
IB 801 Madrid 06:50 Innsbruck 09:25 Wednesday, Sunday
Warschau (WAW) mit LOT Polish Airlines
LO 230 Innsbruck 16:40 Warschau 18:25 Sunday
LO 229 Warschau 13:30 Innsbruck 15:10 Sunday
Image credits: Alexander Pauli and Innsbruck Airport