Madrid–Barajas Airport Explained

[1]
Image2-Width:250
Iata:MAD
Icao:LEMD
Wmo:08221
Type:Public
Owner-Oper:Aena
City-Served:Madrid metropolitan area
Location:Barajas, Madrid, Spain
Elevation-F:1,998
Elevation-M:609
Metric-Elev:yes
Coordinates:40.4722°N -3.5608°W
Image Map Caption:Airport Map
Pushpin Map:Spain Madrid#Spain Community of Madrid#Spain#Europe
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Madrid
Pushpin Label:MAD/LEMD
R1-Number:14R/32L
R1-Length-F:13,451
R1-Length-M:4,100
R1-Surface:Asphalt
R2-Number:18L/36R
R2-Length-M:3,500
R2-Length-F:11,482
R2-Surface:Asphalt
R3-Number:14L/32R
R3-Length-M:3,500
R3-Length-F:11,482
R3-Surface:Asphalt
R4-Number:18R/36L
R4-Length-M:4,350
R4-Length-F:14,268
R4-Surface:Asphalt / Concrete
Metric-Rwy:yes
Stat1-Header:Passengers
Stat1-Data:60,220,984
Stat3-Header:Aircraft Movements
Stat3-Data:351,906
Stat5-Header:Cargo (t)
Stat5-Data:566,372,618
Stat7-Header:Economic impact (2012)
Stat8-Header:Social impact (2012)
Stat8-Data:130,900
Stat-Year:2023
Footnotes:Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA
Spanish AIP, AENA[2]

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid, the capital city of Spain. At 3050ha in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.[3] [4] In 2019, 61.8 million passengers travelled through Madrid–Barajas, making it the country's busiest airport as well as Europe's fifth-busiest.

The airport opened in 1931 and has grown to be one of Europe's most important aviation centres. Within the city limits of Madrid, it is 9km (06miles) from the city's financial district and 13km (08miles) northeast of the Puerta del Sol or Plaza Mayor de Madrid, Madrid's historic centre. The airport name derives from the adjacent district of Barajas, which has its own metro station on the same rail line serving the airport. Barajas serves as the gateway to the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe and the world and is a key link between Europe and Latin America. Following the death of former Spanish Prime Minister, Adolfo Suárez, in 2014, the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced[5] that the airport was to be renamed Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez, Madrid–Barajas. The airport is the primary hub and maintenance base for Iberia and Air Europa. Consequently, Iberia is responsible for more than 40% of Barajas's traffic. The airport has five passenger terminals: T1, T2, T3, T4 and T4S.

History

Early years

The airport was constructed in 1927, opening to domestic and international air traffic on 22 April 1931, although regular commercial operations began two years later. A small terminal was constructed with a capacity for 30,000 passengers a year, in addition to several hangars and the building of the Avión Club. The first regular flight was established by Lineas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE) with its route to Barcelona. In the 1930s, flights started to serve some European and African destinations, the first international flights from the airport.

Originally, the flight field was a large circle bordered in white with the name of Madrid in its interior, unpaved, consisting of land covered with natural grass. It was not until the 1940s that the flight field was paved and new runways were designed. The first runway which started operation in 1944 was 1,400 metres long and 45 metres wide.[6] By the end of the decade the airport had three runways, none of which exist today. In the late 1940s, scheduled flights to Latin America and the Philippines[7] started.

In the 1950s, the airport supported over half a million passengers, increasing to five runways and scheduled flights to New York City began. The National Terminal, currently T2, began construction in 1954 and opened later that year. In the Plan of Airports of 1957, Barajas Airport is classified as a first-class international airport. By the 1970s, large jets were landing at Barajas, and the growth of traffic mainly as a result of tourism exceeded forecasts. At the beginning of the decade, the airport reached the 1.2 million passengers, double that envisaged in the Plan of Airports of 1957.

In the 1970s, with the boom in tourism and the arrival of the Boeing 747, the airport reached 4 million passengers and began the construction of the international terminal (current T1). In 1974, Iberia, L.A.E. introduced the shuttle service between Madrid and Barcelona, a service with multiple daily frequencies and available without prior reservation.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup brought significant expansion and modernisation of the airport's two existing terminals.[6]

In the 1990s, the airport expanded further. In 1994, the first cargo terminal was constructed and the control tower was renovated. In 1997, it opened the North Dock, which is used as an exclusive terminal for Iberia's Schengen flights. In 1998, it inaugurated a new control tower, 71 m tall and then in 1999 the new South Dock opened, which implies an expansion of the international terminal. During this time, the distribution of the terminals changed: The south dock and most of the International Terminal were now called T1, the rest of the International Terminal and Domestic Terminal were now called T2 and the north dock was called T3.

In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations (replacing the previous 18–36), 4,400 m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas. In 2000, it began the construction of new terminals T4 and its satellite, T4S, designed by architects Antonio Lamela, Richard Rogers and Luis Vidal. Two parallel runways to the existing ones were also built.

Development since the 2000s

The new terminals and runways were completed in 2004, but were not in service until 5 February 2006.

Terminal 4, designed by Antonio Lamela, Richard Rogers and Luis Vidal, (winning team of the 2006 Stirling Prize) and TPS Engineers, (winning team of the 2006 IStructE Award for Commercial Structures)[8] was built by Ferrovial[9] and inaugurated on 5 February 2006. Terminal 4 is one of the world's largest airport terminals in terms of area, with 760,000 square meters (8,180,572 square feet) in separate landside and airside structures. It consists of a main building, T4 (470,000 m2) and a satellite building, T4S (290,000 m2), which are approximately 2 km apart. The new Terminal 4 is designed to give passengers a stress-free start to their journey. This is managed through careful use of illumination, with glass panes instead of walls and numerous skylights which allow natural light into the structure. With this new addition, Barajas is designed to handle 70 million passengers annually.

During the construction of Terminal 4, two more runways (15L/33R and 18L/36R) were constructed to aid in the flow of air traffic arriving and departing from Barajas. These runways were officially inaugurated on 5 February 2006 (together with the terminals), but had already been used on several occasions beforehand to test flight and air traffic manoeuvres. Thus, Barajas came to have four runways: two on a north–south axis and parallel to each other (separated by 1.3 km) and two on a northwest–southeast axis (and separated by 1.9 km). This allowed simultaneous takeoffs and landings into the airport, allowing 120 operations an hour (one takeoff or landing every 30 seconds).

Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are adjacent terminals that are home to SkyTeam and Star Alliance airlines. Terminal 4 is home to Iberia, its franchise Air Nostrum and all Oneworld partner airlines. Gate numbers are continuous in terminals 1, 2 and 3 (A1 to E89), but are separately numbered in terminal 4 (H, J, K and M, R, S, U in satellite building).

The Madrid–Barcelona air shuttle service, known as the "Puente Aéreo" (in Spanish), literally called "Air Bridge", used to be the busiest route between two EU airports[10] with 55 daily flights in 2012.[11] The schedule has been reduced since the February 2008 opening of the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line which covers the distance in hours. Subsequently, the route has been overtaken by London-Dublin and Paris-Toulouse.

On the morning of 30 December 2006, an explosion took place in the carpark building module D attached to Terminal 4. Authorities received a bomb threat at approximately 8:15 local time (7:15 GMT), with the caller stating that a car bomb carried with 800 kg of explosive would explode at 9:00 local time (8:00 GMT).[12] After receiving the warning, police were able to evacuate part of the airport.[13] Later, an anonymous caller stated that ETA claims responsibility for the bombing.[14] As a result of the explosion, two Ecuadorians who were sleeping in their cars died. The whole module D of the car park was levelled creating around 40,000 tonnes of debris. It took workers six days to recover the body of the second victim from the rubble. In 2007, the airport processed more than 52 million passengers. Barajas was voted "Best Airport" in the 2008 Condé Nast Traveller Reader Awards.[15]

In December 2010, the Spanish government announced plans to tender Madrid–Barajas airport to companies in the private sector for a period of up to 40 years.[16]

On 27 January 2012, Spanair suspended all flights affecting Madrid–Barajas as well as other domestic and international connections.[17] On 20 September 2012, both runways 15/33 were renamed as 14R/32L (the longest) and 14L/32R (the shortest).

On 1 August 2015, the first scheduled Airbus A380 flight landed in Madrid-Barajas in a daily service to Dubai by Emirates.

Following the death of former Spanish Prime Minister, Adolfo Suárez, in 2014, the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced[5] that the airport would be renamed Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez, Madrid–Barajas. This renaming seeks recognition for Suárez's role as the first Prime Minister of Spain after the restoration of democracy and his key participation in the transition to democracy after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

In late 2018 and early 2019, Iberia renovated its two lounges in Terminal 4, the Dali and Velazquez lounges.

In December 2019, the airport's operator Aena announced plans to significantly expand and renovate the existing installations, increasing their yearly capacity from 70 to 80 million passengers and bridging the architectural gap between the original Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the newer Terminal 4. The project has a budget of 750 million Euro and is set to be executed in the period from 2022 to 2026.[18]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines serve regular scheduled flights to and from Madrid:[19]

Cargo

Traffic and statistics

Passenger numbers

Passengers Aircraft Movements Cargo (tonnes)
200134,050,215 375,558 295,944
200233,915,302 368,029 295,711
200335,855,861 383,804 307,026
200438,718,614 401,503 341,177
200542,146,784 415,704 333,138
200645,799,983 434,959 325,702
200752,110,787 483,292 325,201
200850,846,494 469,746 329,187
200948,437,147 435,187 302,863
201049,863,504 433,683 373,380
201149,671,270 429,390 394,154
201245,195,014 373,185 359,362
201339,735,618 333,056 346,602
201441,833,374 342,601 366,645
201546,828,279 366,605 381,069
201650,420,583 378,150 415,774
201753,402,506 387,566 470,795
201857,891,340 409,832 518,858
201961,734,037 426,376 558,567
202017,112,389 165,740 401,133
202124,135,220 217,537 523,395
202250,633,652 351,906 566,372
202360,220,984389,179643,534
Source: Aena Statistics[20]

Busiest routes

Busiest international routes from MAD (2022)
RankDestinationPassengersChange 2021 / 22
1 Lisbon1,538,930 168%
2 Paris-Orly1,372,064 93%
3 Rome-Fiumicino1,291,377 182%
4 London-Heathrow1,184,916 178%
5 Bogotá1,095,936 165%
6 Amsterdam980,722 113%
7 Mexico-Benito Juárez907,328 78%
8 Brussels887,208 116%
9 Paris-Charles de Gaulle871,273 146%
10 Frankfurt794,852 92%
11 Munich782,962 145%
12 Porto779,479 236%
13 Buenos Aires-Ezeiza760,528 207%
14 New York-JFK748,423 184%
15 Miami689,639 153%
16 Lima689,453 144%
17 London-Gatwick636,045 341%
18 São Paulo-Guarulhos628,327 156%
19 Zurich584,046 77%
20 Geneva524,183 94%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[21]
Busiest domestic routes from MAD (2022)
RankDestinationPassengersChange 2021 / 22
1 Palma de Mallorca1,880,865 64%
2 Barcelona1,716,423 69%
3 Gran Canaria1,434,501 53%
4 Tenerife-North1,294,010 47%
5 Ibiza919,939 50%
6 Bilbao647,371 82%
7 Lanzarote578,269 57%
8 Vigo563,810 64%
9 A Coruña538,795 66%
10 Málaga530,005 129%
11 Santiago de Compostela499,071 70%
12 Seville392,613 97%
13 Fuerteventura391,094 44%
14 Tenerife-South373,582 62%
15 Menorca363,442 14%
16 Asturias327,047 72%
17 Valencia308,797 65%
18 Alicante280,304 94%
19 San Sebastián198,741 131%
20 Santander192,147 99%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo

Medical care

The airport is attached to the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid as a referral hospital for medical and surgical emergencies requiring hospital care.[22] [23]

In addition, the airport itself has medical rooms and medical personnel attached to the Airport Medical Service to cover transit passengers who need medical attention.[24] It also has 75 Cardiac Rescue Points equipped with defibrillators in the event of cardiorespiratory arrest.[24]

Ground transport

Taxi

All terminals have clearly signed taxi ranks outside the arrivals area. Official taxis are white with a red stripe and have the Madrid City Council coat-of-arms on their doors.

Rail

The Madrid Metro Line connects the airport with city centre station Nuevos Ministerios in Madrid's financial district. The Barajas Line 8 provides a fast route from the underground stations at Terminal 2 (access to T1 and T3) and Terminal 4 into central Madrid. The metro also provides links to stations on the Spanish railway network.

In October 2006, a bid was launched for the construction of a Cercanías link between Chamartín Station and Terminal 4. Now finished, this single Cercanías Line (C-1) links Madrid Barajas Terminal 4, with Chamartín Station and Atocha AVE high-speed train stations.[25] In June 2011 a decision was made to equip this link with dual gauge which will allow AVE high-speed trains to reach the airport station.[26]

The Nuevos Ministerios metro station opened a satellite check-in center in 2002[27] right by the AZCA business area in central Madrid; the satellite check-in center was permanently closed in 2006 due to security concerns.[28]

Metropolitan Bus

EMT (Madrid Municipal Transport Company) runs regular public bus services between the airport and Madrid (Avenida de América station): bus 200 runs as a complete line – dropping passengers at departures of terminals 1, 2 and 4 before collecting passengers in the reverse order at arrivals. The EMT public night bus service N4 (nicknamed "Buho", Owl) also services from Madrid downtown (Plaza Cibeles) to Barajas (Plaza de los Hermanos Falcó y Alvarez de Toledo, 400m from the airport through a passageway above the highway). EMT also have an express bus linking Barajas airport to Renfe's Atocha Station, the main rail station in Madrid, during day and Plaza Cibeles during night. Unlike the two services mentioned above, this line runs 24 hours of the day during all the days of the year.[29]

CRTM (Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid) runs four bus services between the airport and nearby cities in the metropolitan area:

Long distance coaches

From terminals T1 and T4 the bus company Avanzabus operates routes to Ávila, Castellón, Salamanca, Valencia and Zamora. From terminal T4 the Alsa bus company runs services to the cities of Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valladolid, León, Murcia, Alicante, Gijón, Oviedo, Lugo, Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Burgos, Vitoria, San Sebastián, Santander, Bilbao, Logroño and Pamplona. From terminal T1 the Socibus company runs services to the major cities in Andalusia: Huelva, Córdoba, Cadiz, Jerez and Seville.

Airport People Mover

Box Width:auto
Madrid Barajas Airport People Mover
Color:cfc
Type:People mover
Status:Operational
Locale:Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport
Start:Terminal T4
End:Satellite T4S
Stations:2
Routes:1
Daily Ridership:27.400 (2012)
Open:4 February 2006
Operator:Bombardier Transportation
Character:Underground
Stock:19 Bombardier Innovia APM 100 vehicles
Linelength:2.7 km (1.7 miles)[30]
Tracks:2
Electrification:Two centre rails
Speed:37mph

In early 2006, the first driverless transit system in Spain and the longest airport people mover system in Europe began transporting passengers between the new terminal (T4) and a new satellite terminal (T4S).[31] Deploying the CITYFLO 550 automatic train control technology, the system is the only mode of transportation for passengers between the two terminals, which are spaced two kilometres apart.[32] Bombardier became the only contractor for the completely underground shuttle system, including the construction of the civil works, operation and maintenance of the system.

The route is 2km (01miles) in length and can carry up to 13,000 passengers per hour.[33]

Airport parking

Long- and short-term car parking is provided at the airport with seven public parking areas. P1 is an outdoor car park located in front of the terminal building; P2 is an indoor car park with direct access to terminals T2 and T3. A Parking 'Express' facility, available for short periods only, is located at Terminal 2 and dedicated long-term parking is also available with 1,655 spaces; a free shuttle operates between the long-stay car park and all terminals. There are also VIP car parks.

Incidents and accidents

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: El aeropuerto de Madrid se llama desde hoy Adolfo Suárez. From today the Madrid airport will be named as Adolfo Suárez. es. El Mundo. 24 March 2014.
  2. Web site: Air Navigation . Aena . 29 June 2017.
  3. Web site: The Largest Airports in the World I: Europe. City Lines. en-US. 2016-04-20.
  4. Web site: Top 10 Biggest and Largest Airports in the World 2015. abcnewspoint.com. 2016-04-20. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160413183627/http://www.abcnewspoint.com/top-10-biggest-and-largest-airports-in-the-world-2015/. 13 April 2016.
  5. El aeropuerto de Madrid- Barajas pasará a denominarse Adolfo Suárez, Madrid- Barajas . Ministerio de Fomento de España . 24 March 2014 . The Madrid-Barajas airport will be renamed Adolfo Suárez, Madrid-Barajas . 24 March 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140324171225/https://www.fomento.gob.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/GABINETE_COMUNICACION/NOTICIAS1/2014/MARZO/140324-04.htm . 24 March 2014 .
  6. Web site: History. Aena. 30 June 2017.
  7. Web site: International Timetable 1949. Airline Timetable Images. 23 November 2021.
  8. http://www.carillionplc.com/news/news_story.asp?id=429 TPS expertise recognised at Madrid Terminal 4
  9. Web site: History . Ferrovial.com . 30 June 2017.
  10. Web site: 10 busiest airport pairs per number of daily flights. Eurocontrol. 15 November 2012.
  11. OAG reveals latest industry intelligence on the busiest routes. OAG. 21 September 2007. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20071026110411/http://www.oag.com/oag/website/com/OAG%2BData/News/Press%2BRoom/Press%2BReleases%2B2007/OAG%2Breveals%2Blatest%2Bindustry%2Bintelligence%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bbusiest%2Broutes%2B2109072. 26 October 2007 .
  12. News: Two Believed Dead in Madrid Airport Bombing . . 1 January 2007 . The New York Times . 30 June 2017.
  13. News: Madrid bomb shatters ETA cease-fire. Reuters. 31 December 2006. 31 December 2006 .
  14. News: Eta claims Madrid airport attack. BBC News. 9 January 2007 . 30 June 2017.
  15. Readers' Travel Awards 2009. Condé Nast Traveller. 30 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170815044827/http://www.cntraveller.com/magazine/readers-travel-awards-2009/page/airports. 15 August 2017. dead.
  16. News: El Gobierno cambia de modelo y privatiza la gestión de aeropuertos. Government changes its plan and privatizes airport management. El País. 2 December 2010. Otero. Lara. 29 June 2017.
  17. News: Spain Threatens Fine After Airline's Quick Close. Minder. Raphael. Clark. Nicola. 30 January 2012. The New York Times. 30 June 2017.
  18. News: Aena prevé invertir 750 millones para unir las terminales 1, 2 y 3 de Barajas. Noceda. Miguel Ángel. 2019-12-27. El País. 2019-12-27. es. 1134-6582.
  19. http://www.aena.es/en/madrid-barajas-airport/airport-destinations.html aena.es – Airport destinations
  20. Web site: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo . . 2022.
  21. Web site: Inicio . 2023-04-09 . www.aena.es.
  22. News: 40 años del 'Piramidón'. Escandón. Pelayo. 23 October 2017. El País. 2019-08-16. es. 1134-6582.
  23. Web site: El Hospital Ramón y Cajal referente con el protocolo de manejo de portadores de drogas. madrid.org.
  24. Web site: Medical care – Aeropuerto Madrid-Barajas – Aena.es. aena.es. 2019-08-16.
  25. Web site: Fomento. https://web.archive.org/web/20080626094130/http://www.fomento.es/NR/rdonlyres/014B6AD9-93FD-49C0-825F-A8E0226E4665/24660/Fe20_25.pdf. dead. 26 June 2008.
  26. Dual gauge to enable high speed to Madrid Airport . . 8 June 2011.
  27. News: es. Nuevos Ministerios transfer station opens in Madrid with direct metro service to the airport. Inaugurado el intercambiador de Nuevos Ministerios en Madrid con servicio directo de metro al aeropuerto. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233708/http://www.vialibre-ffe.com/hemeroteca/454/revista/actualidad/actualidad1.htm . 27 September 2007. Vía Libre. 454. June 2002.
  28. News: Las aerolíneas descartan retomar la facturación en Nuevos Ministerios. Airlines refuse to resume funding for Nuevos Ministerios. Andén 2. ABC. 24 July 2007.
  29. Web site: Línea Exprés Aeropuerto. Airport Express Line. Municipal Transport of Madrid. https://web.archive.org/web/20101108115117/http://www.emtmadrid.es/lineaAeropuerto/index.html . 8 November 2010. 8 November 2010. 29 June 2017.
  30. Web site: Bombardier Closes Sale of its Transportation business to Alstom. Bombardier. 21 June 2023 .
  31. Web site: 20 June 2006 . En funcionamiento el primer sistema automático de transporte en un aeropuerto español . Vía Libre . Spanish . 3 January 2022.
  32. Bombardier to Run INNOVIA System at Madrid-Barajas Airport for 10 More Years. 20 December 2012. Aviation.ca.
  33. Web site: Airport Management – Automated People Mover (APM) . AENA . 22 February 2021.
  34. Web site: EC-AQE Accident description . Aviation Safety Network . 7 September 2010.
  35. Special Investigation Report – Wing Failure of Boeing 747–131, Near Madrid, Spain, May 9, 1976 . 1978-10-06 . en . 2023-02-05 . . Washington D.C..
  36. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19831127-0 ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-283B HK-2910 Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)
  37. . Airdisaster.com (7 December 1983). Retrieved on 2 May 2011.
  38. . Airdisaster.com (7 December 1983). Retrieved on 2 May 2011.
  39. . AirDisaster.Com (7 December 1983). Retrieved on 2 May 2011.
  40. News: THAI clarifies incident concerning flight TG 943 routed Madrid – Rome. Travel Tips Asia. 18 July 2006. 29 June 2017.
  41. Press conference, 21 August 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090408022551/http://www.spanair.com/web/en-gb/DSite/Last-official-notice/. 8 April 2009. 21 August 2008.
  42. News: La tragedia aérea de Barajas se salda con 153 muertos y 19 heridos, varios de ellos graves. The air tragedy of Barajas leaves 153 dead and 19 wounded, several seriously. El Mundo. 26 August 2008. Luis F.. Durán. Pedro. Blasco. es. 29 June 2017.