Spanish airline Iberia has announced that it will retrofit its existing A320neo fleet with Airbus’ newly launched L bins.
The new overhead bins, which allow vertical loading of carry-on roller bags, will allow Iberia to increase its hand baggage capacity by 60%.
The deal between Airbus and Iberia was confirmed at the MRO Europe in Amsterdam and announced on October 18, 2023.
Lufthansa was recently announced as the first retrofit customer for the L bins which are a more compact model of the XL bins.
“We are proud to announce this contract with Airbus, one of our key partners, because with the new Airbus´ L bins, we will be able to improve our customers’ experience. The new luggage compartments increase the hand luggage capacity on our A320neo fleet by 60%. In addition, this improvement also translates into faster boarding and deplaning, which also makes it easier for us to continue to meet our strict punctuality targets and provide excellent service to our customers,” stated Alberto Garcia, Fleet Planning Director at Iberia.
Iberia Maintenance will lead the retrofit project in these aircraft from the beginning of 2025 with each aircraft retrofit taking three to five days. Iberia currently has 16 A320 neo aircraft in its fleet.
The bins, which are made of ultra-lightweight and highly stable composite products, will be manufactured by EFW (Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH), an Airbus First Tier supplier for composite components since 1993.
“The L-Bins are a game changer, enhancing passengers’ experience and streamlining cabin crew workflow. We are very happy to see the L-Bin being part of Iberia’s unwavering quest of excellence and punctuality” said Charbel Youzkatli, Head of Commercial Services Europe at Airbus.