Iberia Express Canary Islands: 29% more seats from Madrid

What changes for travellers to Fuerteventura?

Iberia Express plans two to three flights a day in each direction between Madrid and Fuerteventura. Its winter season ends on 27 March 2027.

The airline's statement gives no start date for the winter schedule. It also does not say which days get two flights and which get three.

The 29% covers all routes between Madrid and the Canary Islands, not Fuerteventura alone. The statement does not say how many extra seats go to the Fuerteventura route.

Anyone planning to fly via Madrid this winter should check days and times on the official website. The airline named no departure times in its statement.

How big is the expansion across the Canary Islands?

Iberia Express has set aside more than 1.7 million seats for routes between Madrid and the Canary Islands. Flights rise by 25% on last year, to 386 a week.

Across the whole network, growth is slower: 7% more flights and 12% more seats. The wider use of the Airbus A321neo, with 232 seats, helps make that possible.

The airline flies to Gran Canaria and Tenerife about ten times a day in each direction, on average. On Tenerife, the flights are split between the airports in the north and the south.

Lanzarote gets three to four flights a day, slightly more than Fuerteventura. La Palma normally has one flight a day, with a second in each direction in busy weeks.

Why does Madrid matter so much for Fuerteventura?

Madrid-Barajas airport offers many connections on the international network of the Iberia group. Residents travelling abroad benefit, as do visitors from countries with no direct flights to Fuerteventura.

Isabel Rodríguez, sales director at Iberia Express, wants a stable year-round programme to give more flexibility and better connections. The airline names two aims: better links for islanders to the mainland and abroad, and more tourism outside peak season.

Fuerteventura airport handled 6,886,935 passengers in 2025, according to Aena (the Spanish airport operator), up 6.8% on the year before. That was the biggest percentage rise of any Canary Islands airport.

All Canary Islands airports together reached 54,753,915 passengers in 2025, according to Aena, an increase of 3.6%. Gran Canaria led with 15,826,553 passengers.

What does the flight cost, and who gets a discount?

Whether the extra seats will make tickets cheaper remains open. The airline gave no winter prices in its statement.

People living in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta or Melilla get up to 75% off scheduled flights to the rest of Spain, according to Iberia. The basis is Real Decreto 949/2018 of 27 July (a royal decree), and the state pays the discount from its budget.

Airlines deduct the discount when they sell the ticket and claim it back from the state. It applies to the fare only, not to airport charges.

In September, Iberia Express ran its Express Days offer: Fuerteventura to Madrid from 18 euros per leg, with the resident discount and when buying a return. It was bookable until 23 September 2026, for travel from 1 October 2026 to 10 June 2027.

The offer has ended, and no new winter deal for residents is confirmed. The offer prices came through the free Club Express on the official website.

Which other routes are growing?

On the Balearic Islands, capacity rises by 38% in both seats and flights. The airline plans around 827,000 seats and almost 200 flights a week, with Mallorca served up to 12 times a day in each direction.

On the international network, Dublin grows by 46% to 79,000 seats and Marrakech by 43% to 100,000 seats. The seasonal route to Reykjavík starts for the first time as early as 27 February 2027.

What remains open, and what comes next?

The exact start date, the daily timetable and the number of seats for Fuerteventura all remain open. No statement on the winter plan from the Cabildo de Fuerteventura (the island government), the Canary Islands government or Aena is known.

Two dates are fixed: 27 February 2027 for the start of the Reykjavík route and 27 March 2027 for the end of the winter season. Travellers will see the details once the airline publishes its timetable in its booking system.