Welcome to this flight report from Madrid Barajas to Toulouse onboard Iberia Regional (Air Nostrum) in business class. This is an early morning departure, scheduled at 7:15 AM.
Air Nostrum profile:
Air Nostrum is Iberia’s regional partner, operating short- and medium-haul flights on its behalf. The fleet mainly consists of CRJ1000s and ATR 72s, the latter typically serving smaller destinations such as San Sebastián, Melilla, or Badajoz. In general, Iberia relies on Air Nostrum to cover lower-demand routes across Spain and Europe. However, the airline is also used to increase frequencies on busier routes normally operated by Iberia’s A320 family, such as Frankfurt, Geneva, or Santiago de Compostela.
How I booked this flight:
This was a last-minute booking, and I managed to find an excellent deal: €120 one-way in business class to Toulouse. Considering the short flight time of 1 hour and 20 minutes, the price felt very competitive. For comparison, the available economy fare at the time of booking was €87.
The trip:
Our journey begins at Madrid Barajas Terminal 4, where I parked my car. If you book in advance through Aena, parking can be very convenient and reasonably priced. From the parking area, it’s just a five-minute walk to the main terminal building.
After using fast track security, I headed straight to Iberia’s business lounge for Schengen and domestic flights—the Sala Dalí, located in the main T4 building. For non-Schengen flights departing from the satellite terminal (T4S), passengers have access to the larger Sala Velázquez lounge, which serves long-haul premium travelers from Iberia and Oneworld partners.
Back to Sala Dalí: the lounge features two large areas offering hot and cold food, beverages, and coffee machines. Between them, there is a bar area with a good selection of drinks and Spanish wines. The food offering varies depending on the time of day. In addition, the lounge includes ample seating, workspaces, and even showers—an excellent feature not always found in European lounges. I didn´t took any picture of these facilities but you will find lots of them in other reports
Feeling hungry, I opted for scrambled eggs with ham and a cappuccino. The breakfast selection was not extensive but offered a reasonable mix of hot and cold options. By 6:45 AM, the lounge was quite crowded, which is typical as Iberia operates many early flights for connecting passengers from the Americas and business travelers.
Air Nostrum flights usually depart from the K gates, which are quite far from the Dalí lounge. My flight left from one of the last gates, so allow at least 10 minutes to get there. Since CRJs and ATRs cannot use jet bridges, boarding is done on foot directly from the terminal. It’s convenient and avoids bus transfers, although it might not be ideal on a rainy day. I would like to mention again how amazing is the architecture of the T4, natural light and sensation of space are key differenciators of this building.
Today’s aircraft is a CRJ-1000 (EC-MUG), delivered to Air Nostrum in 2018. In the past, the airline also operated CRJ200s and CRJ900s, but these have largely been replaced by the newer CRJ1000s and ATR fleet.
My seat was 2A, a bulkhead seat. The business cabin is compact, with just three rows in a 2-2 configuration. There were only three passengers in business class, and my neighbors appeared to be connecting from LATAM flights.
As with most European carriers, business class on short- and medium-haul routes features the same seats as economy, with the adjacent seat kept empty for additional space. Within Iberia, the main exception is on certain London Heathrow flights operated by wide-body aircraft such as the A330 or A350.
Interestingly, Iberia previously offered a more premium “Business Club” product on some A319 aircraft. These featured wider, more comfortable seats similar to domestic first class in the United States. These aircraft were typically deployed on medium-haul routes to destinations such as Moscow, Malabo, or Lagos. However, this configuration has since been discontinued, and today Iberia’s only aircraft with fully differentiated business class seating are the A330, A350, and the newer A321XLR.
Power outlets were not available on the seats. For this short flight is not a major issue, but considering Air Nostrum operates with this aircraft flights up to 2.5h, this is a clear improvement area for the company. A QR code to use Iberia's streaming entertainment system was available and also a monthly magazine with some interesting articles about destinations.
Captain Luis Berasategui welcomed us onboard with a warm and engaging announcement. The aircraft doors were closed right on time, and we began taxiing to runway 36R. The captain informed us of a flight time of approximately 50 minutes.
Taxiing to 36R is quite long, providing a great opportunity for some plane spotting. Highlights included an American Airlines 777 bound for Miami, reflecting AA’s growing presence in Madrid, with routes to New York, Chicago, Charlotte, and Philadelphia. I also spotted a World2Fly A330-300 heading to a leisure destination such as Punta Cana or Cancún, an Iberia A330-300 likely arriving from the Americas, and a British Airways Embraer 175 departing to London City—a route recently reinstated after the pandemic. Additionally, several Iberia A321XLR aircraft were being prepared for transatlantic flights, alongside routes to destinations such as Doha or Recife.
Upon reaching runway 36R, we were cleared for immediate takeoff. The climb was smooth, and we quickly departed Madrid under cloudy skies.
About 10 minutes after takeoff, service began in the business cabin. Orange juice or water was offered first—I chose the juice. Shortly after, the crew served breakfast from a trolley. One downside was that only three trays were loaded, each with a different option (fruit breakfast, omelette, or Spanish toast with tomato and ham). By the time service reached my seat, only the toast option remained. Fortunately, I enjoy Iberian ham, but offering limited choice in business class is not ideal. It sounds reasonable to me that they could load at least 1 or 2 meals extra to ensure the availability of options.
The food itself was average. The bread was cold, and serving it warm would significantly improve the experience. Coffee followed shortly after—I had a decent espresso. Despite the limited catering, the crew was friendly, attentive, and efficient, especially given the short duration of the flight.
As we crossed the Pyrenees, the captain announced our descent. The crew quickly collected trays and secured the cabin. We landed in Toulouse about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, greeted by a rainy and cool morning.
Toulouse is a fascinating airport. Despite its regional size, it hosts numerous wide-body aircraft awaiting delivery from Airbus. During my arrival, I spotted aircraft from Emirates, Starlux, Cebu Pacific, and Hainan Airlines. The Airbus delivery center is located here, and many A350s and A330neos were lined up, ready to enter service—particularly for airlines in Asia and the Middle East.
We parked at the gate and disembarked quickly. Nearby, I noticed a Lufthansa City A320.
Overall, this flight offered excellent value for money. It was punctual, the service was very good, and the lounge experience in Madrid added comfort to the journey. Catering could be improved slightly, especially considering the expectations of business class, but given the short flight time, it was acceptable.
Welcome to Toulouse and thanks for reading, please share your thoughts in comments!
A great first report! And it’s on one of my “shuttle” flights that I do multiple times a year—great to see someone else posting a review on this route.
Not on Air Nostrum metal, unfortunately. Though as it’s a very short flight to TLS and I’m usually travelling with family, I don’t mind.
Yes, it would be nice to have a hot meal, but it’s such a short flight I don’t believe there would be time to heat up the meals and the cold meals are pretty good compared to short-haul meals on similar sub 1h flights on other airlines within Europe.
€120 for the one-way flight is quite a good deal, especially at the last minute. I usually pay between €200 and €250 booking well in advance and have seen the prices well over €300 for last minute bookings, which wouldn’t be worth it.
I really like Iberia’s lounges at MAD, which I find to be nicer than sister BA’s Business lounges at LHR—only the BA First lounge is slightly better.
Thanks for sharing and welcome to Flight-Report!