The Iberia Group’s popular low cost airline will return with 2 weekly return flights to Madrid, operating on Thursdays and Sundays, with fares available from just £39 one way and from £142 in Business from Cardiff Airport.

Madrid is an extremely popular destination for business travelers and tourists alike. Famous for its art, gastronomy and, of course, its football – not to mention home to Welsh football hero Gareth Bale – Madrid is also a shopper’s paradise, boasting both name-brand stores and independent boutiques.

The return of this popular Iberia Express route from Cardiff will also offer customers access to a wealth of destinations around the world, using Madrid as hub to connect onwards. These connections include access to 20 Spanish cities, such as Alicante, Asturias, Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Granada or Seville; Lisbon and Porto in Portugal; Johannesburg, Dakar and Malabo; Tel Aviv, as well as Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Santiago de Chile, Medellin, Havana, Mexico City, Miami and New York in the Americas.

Trevor Martin, Chief Commercial Officer of Iberia Express said:

“We’re very pleased to continue operating the Madrid-Cardiff route in summer 2018, returning to a route which has been very popular with our customers. Our focus is to continue offering a variety of destinations at very competitive prices with high standards of quality and service”.

Deb Barber, CEO of Cardiff Airport said:

“After the initial success of its first season, we're delighted to welcome Iberia Express back to Wales’ national airport for the upcoming summer season. Madrid is a destination that's been highly sought by our customers for a long time and its immediate popularity is testament to this. With conveniently timed flights available at good prices, the service is ideal for short city breaks to discover all that the city has to offer. Likewise, we look forward to welcoming even more visitors from Spain to our country – the home nation of Real Madrid star player Gareth Bale and host city for the UEFA Champions League final in 2017. With UNESCO listed, stunning mountain ranges, miles of award-winning coastline and a bustling city-scape within easy reach, there are many reasons to visit Wales using our national Airport as the gateway.”

Iberia Express, a subsidiary of the Iberia Group, flies to 40 destinations in 14 countries Apart from flying point-to-point routes, it feeds Iberia’s medium and long-haul network. It is a member of oneworld, an alliance of fifteen airlines that offers its passengers 14,000 daily flights to nearly 1,000 airports in 150 countries. In 2016, Iberia Express was the world’s most punctual low cost airline, for the third year in a row, according to FlightStats.