100 Days to 100 Years: Iberia reveals its centenary plans

Iberia has started the countdown to its 100th anniversary, unveiling a year-long programme that will include a special aircraft livery, an air show, events across Spain and Latin America and major changes to its passenger experience.

With 100 days remaining until the start of 2027, the Spanish flag carrier outlined plans to celebrate a century since its founding in June 1927.

Iberia Chairman and CEO Marco Sansavini also unveiled a special centenary livery that will appear on some of the airline’s aircraft during the anniversary year.

“The centenary events will pay tribute to the more than one billion people who have flown with Iberia over the past 100 years, to all the employees who have made every flight possible throughout this century and to everyone whose family, business or cultural ties have been strengthened by our connectivity,” Sansavini said.

Iberia plans major centenary event in June 2027

The centrepiece will be a major institutional event at Iberia’s La Muñoza maintenance complex in June 2027, the month in which the airline was founded.

Latin America, which remains Iberia’s most important long-haul market, will feature prominently.

Madrid’s Casa de América will host an initiative highlighting the links between Spain and Latin America and their shared language. Iberia will also open temporary “Iberia Spaces” in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mexico City and São Paulo.

Its Madrid Iberia Space will move to 44 Calle Alcalá and remain open for much of 2027, hosting aviation, cultural and social events.

Iberia also plans a major air show at Madrid’s historic Cuatro Vientos airfield.

Other projects include a centenary book and documentary using Iberia’s audiovisual archives and interviews with people who helped shape the airline.

A new Iberia Foundation will launch in 2027, building on the airline’s existing humanitarian and social programmes.

A century shared with another Spanish transport icon

One unusual part of the programme will connect Iberia with the Spanish Navy’s training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano.

The ship also celebrates its centenary in 2027 and shares a historical link with Iberia as industrialist Horacio Echevarrieta helped create both.

Iberia will also work with Spanish business organisation CEOE on an event at the Madrid Stock Exchange. The airline will also showcase its centenary projects at FITUR 2027.

Madrid will get a more permanent reminder of Iberia’s history. Working with Madrid City Council, the airline plans to install an aircraft tail fin at a prominent location in Barajas as a tribute to generations of Iberia employees associated with the district.

60,000 Iberia employees past and present invited

Employees will play another major role in the celebrations.

Iberia expects around 60,000 current and former employees to participate in events in Spain and Latin America.

Plans include concerts and gatherings, as well as a special IB100 flight which symbolically retraces the airline’s century of operations.

New long-haul cabins and Starlink

Iberia says more than one billion passengers have flown with the airline during its history. The centenary will focus not only on Iberia’s past, but also on its future passenger experience.

In 2027, the airline plans to reveal a new interior design for its long-haul fleet as part of a cabin refurbishment programme to improve comfort and quality.

Iberia will also continue rolling out Starlink satellite connectivity, providing free high-speed Wi-Fi progressively across its fleet.

In-flight meals will also receive an anniversary update. Iberia is working with Spain’s Royal Academy of Gastronomy to bring some of the country’s best-known foods into its onboard menus and premium lounges.

Iberia’s €6 billion plan for its next century

The anniversary comes as Iberia pushes ahead with its Flight Plan 2030, backed by €6 billion in investment.

Its long-haul fleet has increased from 43 aircraft at the beginning of 2025 to 51, and Iberia aims to operate around 70 long-haul aircraft as the strategy progresses.

The introduction of the Airbus A321XLR, for which Iberia was the launch operator, has allowed the airline to add thinner long-haul routes, including Orlando, Recife, Fortaleza, Toronto and Monterrey, where a widebody aircraft would not be profitable.

Alongside fleet growth, Iberia is investing in digitalisation and artificial intelligence and expanding its aircraft maintenance business. Recent developments include securing a LEAP Premier MRO licence and establishing IAG Engine Tech.

For Iberia, the centenary marks a century of Spanish commercial aviation and showcases what the airline intends to become during its second century.

The countdown has begun. Iberia officially turns 100 on 28 June 2027, but the celebrations will last all year, and the passenger experience improvements will continue beyond 2028.