Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas) has announced that pending government approvals, it plans to return to the Far East during the fourth quarter of the year.
In a statement, the Spanish carrier said it hoped to start direct flights from Madrid Barajas to Tokyo Narita effective October 18. The 3x weekly service will operate on-board A330-200 aircraft.
However, flights to Shanghai Pudong are still at the negotiation stage with a set date for the launch of flights to be announced once the Chinese authorities have issued Iberia with permits as well as slots.
According to the ch-aviation route database, Chinese carriers currently dominate the China-Spain direct market with Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) serving both Madrid and Barcelona El Prat from Beijing Capital alongside Capital Airlines (China) (JD, Beijing Daxing International) which serves Madrid from Hangzhou.
