2-time World Cup champions Spain return home on special Iberia A350-900

The Spain national football team, has returned home to much fanfare in Madrid. Iberia was proud to the chosen airline to transport back the FIFA World Cup and reigning champions. The team fought against Argentina for a total of 120 minutes at MetLife Stadium (temporarily referred to as New York-New Jersey Stadium) on Sunday. The Spanish team eventually won with a final score of 1-0.

Flying home on board a specially chartered IberiaAirbus A350-900, the flight was tracked on Flightradar24 by thousands, as the team proudly brought the World Cup trophy back to Spain. The service departed on Monday for the six-hour and 30-minute nonstop flight to the Spanish capital with many of the team and support crew onboard.

A Delivery Flight Of A Different Kind: This Time Carrying The World Cup

Iberia, Spain's flag carrier, proudly shuttled the Spain national football team back to Madrid on Monday, carrying the prized FIFA World Cup. The charter flight departed from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in the early hours of Monday, July 22. The service, initially planned to depart at 1:42 AM, pushed back from the gate 18 minutes behind schedule, eventually becoming airborne around 2:00 AM.

The service operated nonstop to Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), where, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it touched down at Madrid in the middle of the afternoon at 2:38 PM. Covering a distance of 3,605 miles (5,803 km), the plane touched down after six hours and 30 minutes in the air, to be greeted by media, fans and airport officials to welcome the world champions home.

Operating as IB1410, the aircraft flying the team was an eight-year-old A350-900 with the nickname Paco de Lucia, named after the stage name of Francisco Sánchez Gómez, a legendary Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and producer.

A Special Charter Flight For The FIFA World Cup Champions

Spain's national football team received a warm welcome to Madrid, where photos have been captured of the celebration at Adolfo Suárez Airport. There was a lot of special coordination behind the welcoming event at the city's main airport to ensure that this momentous arrival went to plan.

Hundreds of media personnel lined the side of the airport apron to capture a glimpse of the team disembarking the A350, where the team also stood in front of the widebody aircraft holding the World Cup. The plane was escorted along the taxiway by airport personnel and police.

Signage inside the airport terminal also celebrated the momentous win, with the words 'enhorabuena campeones' meaning 'congratulations champions'.

Aircraft Details: EC-MYX

The aircraft that operated the charter flight, as mentioned, was an eight-year-old A350-900 which took its first test flight back on July 17, 2018 under French Airbus registration F-WZHC. Iberia took delivery of the plane on July 27 that same year, and it is configured to carry a total of 348 passengers in a three-class layout. Characteristics per ch-aviation are detailed below:

Iberia operates a total of 23 A350-900s, which form over half of its widebody fleet (the other being 13 A330-200 and eight A330-300). The airline utilizes these aircraft, alongside the A321XLR, to operate trans-Atlantic and other long-haul international services. The airline's short-haul, narrow-body fleet includes the A319-100, A320neo, A320-200, A321neo, and A321-200.

Iberia was proud to be the charter provider for the Spanish national football team, in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the flag carrier to transport the newest world champions of the FIFA World Cup. Following the airport arrival, the team then headed into the city center, where the squad boarded an open-top bus for a historic parade through central Madrid, where it is estimated that around two million fans lined the street to celebrate becoming world champions.