Iberia A350 NEXT Business Class From Madrid to Quito Shows the Airline at Its Best

Iberia’s Madrid to Quito flight is a natural test of the airline’s long-haul credentials.

It links Spain with one of its most important international markets, runs for around 10 hours, and on the right aircraft, offers Iberia’s newest Business Class suite with sliding privacy doors.

On this Airbus A350 service, the result was a persuasive case for Iberia’s flagship cabin, even if a few softer details still leave room for more polish.

At a glance

• Iberia’s Airbus A350 Business Class flight from Madrid to Quito operated on time with the airline’s newer NEXT cabin.
• The standout feature is the Recaro CL6720 suite, with a sliding privacy door, fully flat bed, strong storage and direct aisle access.
• The paid fare for this itinerary was €2,858, after award availability did not appear for the preferred travel dates.

Madrid’s Velázquez lounge sets a strong tone

Long-haul Iberia departures from Madrid usually mean Terminal 4S, the satellite terminal at Madrid–Barajas Airport.

It’s worth allowing more time than expected, as the journey from check-in to the Iberia Premium Lounge Velázquez can take around 30 minutes, including the transfer to the satellite terminal.

The lounge entrance is also easy to miss, as it sits inside a duty-free shop rather than behind a more obvious airport-lounge frontage.

Once inside, the space is one of Iberia’s strongest ground assets.

The lounge is arranged as a long rectangular room with floor-to-ceiling windows along one side, giving wide views over the apron and parked aircraft.

The design uses Iberia’s red and grey palette in a way that feels contemporary rather than corporate, with plenty of natural light and a calmer atmosphere than many busy European business lounges.

Food is a particular strength.

Two similar self-service buffet stations sit at opposite ends of the main area, helping spread passengers out and reduce bottlenecks.

The selection includes hot and cold dishes, salads, snacks, desserts and refreshments, while a Spanish wine bar at one end offers a quieter place to sit.

There’s also a separate dining room, six shower cubicles with amenity kits, work and relaxation spaces, and a children’s entertainment area with a television, traditional games and video game consoles.

The main weakness is more prosaic, as queues formed for both the men’s and women’s lavatories during the visit.

The A350 NEXT cabin is private, spacious and slightly restrained

Iberia operates two Airbus A350 Business Class products, so aircraft assignment matters.

The newer version, marketed as Iberia NEXT, is the one to look for, as it brings sliding privacy doors to the Business Class suite.

On this flight, the aircraft was an Airbus A350 registered EC-OES, built in 2023.

The Business Class cabin has 31 Recaro CL6720 seats in a staggered 1-2-1 layout across eight rows, with direct aisle access for every passenger.

The cabin is slightly asymmetrical, with eight seats on the right side, eight centre pairs and seven seats on the left side.

That staggered arrangement makes seat selection important.

The most private solo seats are the true window positions in A or L, where the seat sits closer to the fuselage and the side console creates an extra buffer from the aisle.

The C and J window seats sit closer to the aisle and feel more exposed.

For couples, the centre E and G seats in rows 1, 3, 5 and 7 are the better choice, as they place passengers closer together in a more cocooned arrangement.

Solo travellers should avoid those paired centre seats where possible, even with the divider available.

The least appealing seats are in row 11 and, to a lesser extent, the last row, because of possible noise from nearby galleys and lavatories.

Seat 8J is especially compromised, combining an aisle-adjacent window position, a partially obstructed view from the console placement and proximity to the galley.

Visually, the cabin is modern and minimalist, built around a largely grey palette with flashes of Iberia red.

The red “¡Hola!” welcome screens and red-lined storage compartments add warmth during boarding, though the cabin becomes more muted once the screens change and the compartments close.

The upside is a notably open feeling, helped by the absence of overhead storage bins above the centre seats.

The suite is the headline act

The Recaro CL6720 seat is the clearest reason to choose this version of Iberia’s A350.

It measures 23 inches wide and offers a pitch of 78 inches, converting into a fully flat bed of the same 78-inch length.

Each suite has a sliding privacy door, though it doesn’t seal the space from floor to ceiling.

That gives passengers a stronger sense of enclosure without making the cabin feel cut off from crew visibility.

In front of the seat is an 18-inch 4K entertainment screen, with the footwell and footrest beneath.

A fold-out tray table is stored under the screen and measures 16 by 18 inches once deployed.

The side console is particularly useful.

It provides a large surface for drinks and personal items, while a raised section holds the entertainment handset and power options, including a universal AC socket, USB-A and USB-C ports.

A small strap-secured holder is provided for the amenity kit and can later be used for a water bottle or other small item.

There is also a large concealed storage compartment inside the console, with enough space for headphones and personal belongings.

A small mirror is built into the inside of the compartment door, a simple but useful touch on a long flight.

Seat controls are integrated into the side console, and a movable armrest can be raised or lowered depending on how the passenger wants to sit or relax.

The bedding helps the seat function properly as a bed, with a thick pillow, duvet and an additional cushion that unfolds into a mattress pad.

Business Class passengers also receive noise-cancelling headphones and an amenity kit created with Spanish fashion designer Teresa Helbig.

The kit is made from recycled plastic and contains night socks, an eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs, and vegan cosmetic products made in Spain by Uvas Frescas.

The kits are packaged by Envera, an Iberia employee association that provides employment opportunities for more than 400 people with disabilities.

Food, service and onboard rhythm

Iberia’s long-haul Business Class meal structure is traditional and easy to understand.

On the Madrid to Quito flight, a three-course lunch was served after take-off, snacks were available in the galley during the flight, and a pre-arrival meal was served around 90 minutes before landing.

Additional snacks could also be ordered from the menu during the flight.

Catering was provided by DO & CO, a well-known airline catering company.

The lunch service began with amuse-bouches, including breadsticks.

Iberia often attracts criticism for inconsistency in its onboard service, but this flight presented the airline in a stronger light, with friendly cabin crew and a generally polished premium-cabin experience.

The soft product still doesn’t appear as refined as the very best long-haul Business Class operators, but the combination of a strong suite, good catering structure and useful amenities makes the overall package highly competitive.

Details & Specifications

Iberia’s A350 NEXT Business Class is the version worth seeking out, especially on a long sector such as Madrid to Quito.

The cabin could use a little more warmth in its visual character, and the service proposition is not quite as finely detailed as some leading international airlines, but the seat itself is excellent.

With privacy doors, a comfortable bed, practical storage and a strong lounge at Madrid, this is a long-haul Business Class product that suits both leisure travellers heading for Ecuador and frequent flyers crossing between Europe and Latin America.