UTOPIA AIRPORT: IBERIA - SOUTHERN CROSS (Late sixties)

IBERIA LINEAS AEREAS DE ESPANA

IBERIA, the flag carrier of Spain was the first European airlines to launch commercial airline services to South America in 1946 by using a DC4 linking Madrid to Buenos Aires and Montevideo (via stops in SAL and NATAL)

Douglas C-54B EC-AEP Iberia LAP 12.09.54 edited-2.jpg

"Douglas C-54B EC-AEP Iberia LAP 12.09.54 edited-2" by RuthAS - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1950, the company was operating 2 weekly flights to South America
IB 991 : MADRID-SAL-NATAL-MONTEVIDEO-BUENOS AIRES return IB992 BUENOS AIRES-MONTEVIDEO-NATAL-SAL-LAS PALMAS-MADRID
and IB 981 MADRID-SAL-PORT OF SPAIN (technical stop)-CARACAS , return IB 982 CARACAS-SAN JUAN-BERMUDA-SANTA MARIA (Azores) -LAS PALMAS-MADRID.

Rio di Janeiro is present in their April 1951 timetable, and by the summer 1958 all services to South America are operated by the Lockheed constellation , as the competition was fierce on these South American routes . Sao Paulo joins the network in 1959 have been preceded by Bogota
The delivery of the DC8 in 1961 will allow the Buenos Aires link to be extended to Santiago and by 1963 as evidenced by their summer timetable the MADRID-SAN JUAN-CARACAS-BOGOTA is extended to LIMA
By 1969, all Spanish Speaking capitals of South America + Rio di Janeiro and Sao Paulo were served with a mixed fleet of DC8-50 and DC8-60S (delivery starting in 1968).

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