Barcelona International Airport
Encyclopedia
Barcelona El Prat Airport (Catalan
: Aeroport de Barcelona – el Prat, Spanish
: Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat), simply known as Barcelona Airport, is located 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of the center of Barcelona
, Catalonia
, Spain
, lying in the municipalities of El Prat de Llobregat
, Viladecans
and Sant Boi.
The airport is the second largest in Spain behind Madrid Barajas Airport and the largest in Catalonia
. It is a main base for Spanair
and Vueling and a focus city for Air Europa and Iberia
. The airport mainly serves domestic, Europe
an and North Africa
n destinations, also having flights to Southeast Asia
, Latin America
and North America
.
The Barcelona–Madrid
air shuttle
service, known as the "Puente Aéreo" (in Spanish
), or "Pont Aeri" (in Catalan
) literally "Air Bridge", was the world's busiest route until 2008, with the highest number of flight operations (971 per week) in 2007. The schedule has been reduced since February 2008, when a Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line was opened, covering the distance in 2 hours 40 minutes, and quickly became popular.
In 2010, over 29.2 million passengers used Barcelona Airport, a 6.5% increase compared with 2009, making it the 10th busiest airport in Europe.
Salmson 300 which arrived from Toulouse
with final destination, Casablanca
. The airport was used as headquarters of the Aeroclub of Catalonia and the base for the Spanish Navy
's Zeppelin
fleet. Scheduled commercial service began in 1927 with an Iberia
service to Madrid Cuatro Vientos Airport. This was Iberia's first route.
In 1948, a runway
was built, today 07-25, in the same year the first overseas service was operated by Pan American World Airways
to New York City
, using a Lockheed Constellation
. Between 1948 and 1952 a second runway was constructed (runway 16–34), perpendicular to the previous, also taxiways were constructed and a terminal to accommodate passengers. In 1963 the airport reached one million passengers a year. A new control tower
was built in 1965 and the terminal was rebuilt in 1968 (currently the oldest wing of Terminal B).
On 3 August 1970, Pan American World Airways
inaugurated regular service between Barcelona, Lisbon
and New York, operated by a Boeing 747
. On 4 November of the same year, Iberia began the "Air-shuttle" service between Barcelona and Madrid-Barajas. A few years later, in 1976, a terminal was built specifically for Iberia's air-shuttle service and a terminal exclusively for cargo, an annexed mail service and an aircraft ramp for air cargo. In 1977 the airport handled over 5 million passengers annually.
From the late seventies to the early nineties the airport was stalled in traffic and investments until the 1992 Summer Olympics
held in Barcelona. El Prat underwent a major development consisting in the modernization and expansion of the existing terminal (terminal B) and the construction of the other two (A and C terminals) which included jetways for direct access to the aircraft. This reform was designed by architect Ricardo Bofill Levi. In 1992, a new control tower was inaugurated also designed by Ricardo Bofill Levi.
A new control tower was opened in 2006.
The new Terminal 1 was inaugurated on June the 16th, 2009, covering 545,000 m2. 70% of today's flights operate from Terminal 1.
The old terminals A, B and C are now Terminal 2, divided in T2A, T2B and T2C.
Due to the strong drop in air traffic after 1999 and the crisis in the aviation sector in 2001 many charter operations from Girona and Reus
were diverted to El Prat, which helped the airport to survive the crisis.
groups in recent years, who want the airport to become a centre of world air traffic distribution and not just European.
In recent years the traffic of low-cost airlines has grown significantly, especially after the creation of operating bases by Vueling and Clickair at the airport. Vueling and Clickair merged in July 2009, now they operate under the name of Vueling. There are other low-cost airlines operating from the airport including easyJet
, WizzAir, and Ryanair
who have established a new base at the airport starting September 2010.
The airport has 3 runways, two parallel, nominated 07L/25R and 07R/25L (the latter opened in 2004), and a cross runway 02/20. There are two terminals: T2, which is the sum of the previous Terminals A, B and C and the new T1 opened on 16/6/2009. The two terminals have a combined total of 268 check-in counters and 64 boarding gates. Operations at the airport are restricted exclusively to IFR
(instrumental flights), except for sanitary VFR
flights, emergency and government.
A plan for expansion (Plan Barcelona) includes a third terminal building (also designed by Ricardo Bofill) and control tower. An additional runway (07R/25L) has also been built. Once these developments were completed in 2009, the airport is capable of handling 55 million passengers annually (compared to 33 million passengers in 2007). The airport is slated to expand in area from 8.45 to 15.33 km² (3.3 to 5.9 ) by 2009. A further expansion is planned to be finished by 2012, with a new satellite terminal which will raise the capacity to 70 million passengers annually.
The airport is the subject of a political discussion over the management and control between the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Spanish Government
, which has involved AENA
(airport manager) and various airlines, Iberia and Spanair mainly. Part of the controversy is about the benefits that the airport generates, which are used in maintenance and investments in other airports in the network of AENA and government investments in other economic areas.
was inaugurated on June the 16th, 2009. This new Terminal 1 has an area of 544,066 m2, and an aircraft ramp of 600,000 m2.
Its facilities include:
The forecast is that the airport will be able to handle 55 million passengers annually and will reach 90 operations an hour.
The extension of the airport with a total investment of €5.1 billion in the future will include a new satellite terminal and refurbishment of existing terminals. The civil engineering phase of the South Terminal has been made possible by a budget of €1000 million.
.png)
commuter train station on the line , which runs from the Maçanet-Massanes
station, with major stops at Barcelona Sants railway station
and the fairly central Passeig de Gràcia railway station to provide transfer to the Barcelona Metro
system. Passengers for T1 must take a connecting bus from the train station to T1. As part of the major expansion above, a new railway station will be built nearby, connecting the airport to the Spanish AVE
network, and Line 9
of the Barcelona Metro.
(TMB) public bus on line 46 runs every 16 minutes from Plaça Espanya
. A scheduled private bus line (Aerobús) from Plaça Catalunya
, stops at Urgell and Plaça d'Espanya. Taxi stops are available at each terminal. The C-32B highway
connects the airport to a main traffic interchange
between Barcelona's Ronda de Dalt beltway and major motorways.
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
: Aeroport de Barcelona – el Prat, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat), simply known as Barcelona Airport, is located 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of the center of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, lying in the municipalities of El Prat de Llobregat
El Prat de Llobregat
El Prat de Llobregat , commonly known as El Prat, is a municipality in the comarca of Baix Llobregat inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated in the delta of the Llobregat river on the right bank, bordering the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Barcelona and Viladecans. More than a quarter of the...
, Viladecans
Viladecans
Viladecans is a large town very close to Barcelona, Spain. It is located between Sant Boi de Llobregat, Sant Climent de Llobregat, and bordering the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between El Prat de Llobregat and Gavà....
and Sant Boi.
The airport is the second largest in Spain behind Madrid Barajas Airport and the largest in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. It is a main base for Spanair
Spanair
Spanair is a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. It was, until 2009, a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines, which now holds slightly under 20% of the company. Spanair provides a scheduled passenger network within Spain and...
and Vueling and a focus city for Air Europa and Iberia
Iberia Airlines
Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., commonly known as Iberia, is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main bases of Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport....
. The airport mainly serves domestic, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n destinations, also having flights to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The Barcelona–Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
air shuttle
Air shuttle
An air shuttle is a scheduled airline service that operates a frequent, regular service on short routes with a simplified fare and class structure. Although no exact specifications exist, frequency is normally once per hour or more often and travel time is typically an hour or less, although longer...
service, known as the "Puente Aéreo" (in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
), or "Pont Aeri" (in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
) literally "Air Bridge", was the world's busiest route until 2008, with the highest number of flight operations (971 per week) in 2007. The schedule has been reduced since February 2008, when a Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line was opened, covering the distance in 2 hours 40 minutes, and quickly became popular.
In 2010, over 29.2 million passengers used Barcelona Airport, a 6.5% increase compared with 2009, making it the 10th busiest airport in Europe.
History
Barcelona's first airfield, located at El Remolar, began operations in 1916. However, it did not have good expansion prospects, so a new airport at El Prat opened in 1918. The first plane was a LatécoèreGroupe Latécoère
The Groupe Latécoère is an aircraft company based in Toulouse, France. Founded by Pierre-Georges Latécoère in 1917, the company was known in the past particularly for its seaplanes...
Salmson 300 which arrived from Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
with final destination, Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
. The airport was used as headquarters of the Aeroclub of Catalonia and the base for the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
's Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
fleet. Scheduled commercial service began in 1927 with an Iberia
Iberia Airlines
Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., commonly known as Iberia, is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main bases of Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport....
service to Madrid Cuatro Vientos Airport. This was Iberia's first route.
In 1948, a runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
was built, today 07-25, in the same year the first overseas service was operated by Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, using a Lockheed Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
. Between 1948 and 1952 a second runway was constructed (runway 16–34), perpendicular to the previous, also taxiways were constructed and a terminal to accommodate passengers. In 1963 the airport reached one million passengers a year. A new control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
was built in 1965 and the terminal was rebuilt in 1968 (currently the oldest wing of Terminal B).
On 3 August 1970, Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
inaugurated regular service between Barcelona, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and New York, operated by a Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
. On 4 November of the same year, Iberia began the "Air-shuttle" service between Barcelona and Madrid-Barajas. A few years later, in 1976, a terminal was built specifically for Iberia's air-shuttle service and a terminal exclusively for cargo, an annexed mail service and an aircraft ramp for air cargo. In 1977 the airport handled over 5 million passengers annually.
From the late seventies to the early nineties the airport was stalled in traffic and investments until the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
held in Barcelona. El Prat underwent a major development consisting in the modernization and expansion of the existing terminal (terminal B) and the construction of the other two (A and C terminals) which included jetways for direct access to the aircraft. This reform was designed by architect Ricardo Bofill Levi. In 1992, a new control tower was inaugurated also designed by Ricardo Bofill Levi.
A new control tower was opened in 2006.
The new Terminal 1 was inaugurated on June the 16th, 2009, covering 545,000 m2. 70% of today's flights operate from Terminal 1.
The old terminals A, B and C are now Terminal 2, divided in T2A, T2B and T2C.
Reus Airport
-Incidents and accidents:* On 20 July 1970, a Condor Boeing 737-100 which was approaching Reus Airport, collided with a privately owned Piper Cherokee light aircraft near Tarragona, Spain. The Piper subsequently crashed, resulting in the death of the three persons on board...
were diverted to El Prat, which helped the airport to survive the crisis.
El Prat today
Most of the traffic at Barcelona Airport is domestic and European, in which Spanair and Vueling have an operational base. However, the number of intercontinental connections is well below other European airports with their level of passenger traffic. The lack of intercontinental connections has been a constant cause of complaint and pressure by the authorities and CatalanCatalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
groups in recent years, who want the airport to become a centre of world air traffic distribution and not just European.
In recent years the traffic of low-cost airlines has grown significantly, especially after the creation of operating bases by Vueling and Clickair at the airport. Vueling and Clickair merged in July 2009, now they operate under the name of Vueling. There are other low-cost airlines operating from the airport including easyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
, WizzAir, and Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
who have established a new base at the airport starting September 2010.
The airport has 3 runways, two parallel, nominated 07L/25R and 07R/25L (the latter opened in 2004), and a cross runway 02/20. There are two terminals: T2, which is the sum of the previous Terminals A, B and C and the new T1 opened on 16/6/2009. The two terminals have a combined total of 268 check-in counters and 64 boarding gates. Operations at the airport are restricted exclusively to IFR
Instrument flight rules
Instrument flight rules are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules ....
(instrumental flights), except for sanitary VFR
Visual flight rules
Visual flight rules are a set of regulations which allow a pilot to operate an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minimums, as specified in the rules of the...
flights, emergency and government.
A plan for expansion (Plan Barcelona) includes a third terminal building (also designed by Ricardo Bofill) and control tower. An additional runway (07R/25L) has also been built. Once these developments were completed in 2009, the airport is capable of handling 55 million passengers annually (compared to 33 million passengers in 2007). The airport is slated to expand in area from 8.45 to 15.33 km² (3.3 to 5.9 ) by 2009. A further expansion is planned to be finished by 2012, with a new satellite terminal which will raise the capacity to 70 million passengers annually.
The airport is the subject of a political discussion over the management and control between the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Spanish Government
Spanish Government
Spain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...
, which has involved AENA
Aena
Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea , literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", is the Spanish public body that owns and operates the majority of airports in Spain, with the exceptions of the private owned Ciudad Reals and Lleida-Alguaire Airport. Aena is also responsible for Air...
(airport manager) and various airlines, Iberia and Spanair mainly. Part of the controversy is about the benefits that the airport generates, which are used in maintenance and investments in other airports in the network of AENA and government investments in other economic areas.
Traffic and statistics
EWLINE
|
EWLINE
|
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France
Rome-Fiumicino, Italy
Lisbon, Portugal
Geneva, Switzerland
Prague, Czech Republic
Athens, Greece
Madrid, Community of Madrid
Tenerife-North, Canary Islands.svg.png)
Terminal 1
The new Terminal 1, designed by Ricardo BofillRicardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill, also Ricard Bofill Leví is a Catalan Spanish postmodernist architect.He studied at the School of Architecture in Geneva, Switzerland...
was inaugurated on June the 16th, 2009. This new Terminal 1 has an area of 544,066 m2, and an aircraft ramp of 600,000 m2.
Its facilities include:
- 168 check-in counters
- 60 jetways
- 15 baggage carousels (one of the new carousel is equivalent to 4 carousels in the old terminal) and
- 13,000 parking spaces, in addition to the 12,000 already in the terminal 2.
The forecast is that the airport will be able to handle 55 million passengers annually and will reach 90 operations an hour.
The extension of the airport with a total investment of €5.1 billion in the future will include a new satellite terminal and refurbishment of existing terminals. The civil engineering phase of the South Terminal has been made possible by a budget of €1000 million.
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 was designed by Ricardo Bofill Levi. Terminal 2 was designed to expand the airport before the arrival of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. Following the opening of Terminal 1, in 2009, Terminal 2 became nearly completely empty until the airport authorities lowered landing fees to attract low-cost and regional carriers, that now fill the terminal to near full-capacity.Airlines and destinations
: Some Singapore Airlines flights make a stop in Milan-Malpensa, but Singapore Airlines does not have the rights to carry passengers between Milan-Malpensa and Barcelona.Cargo airlines
Busiest airlines
| Rank | Airline | Passengers | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vueling Airlines Vueling Airlines Vueling Airlines SA , commonly shortened to Vueling, is an airline based in El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona , where it maintains its main operating base... |
7,225,234 | 24,73% |
| 2 | Spanair Spanair Spanair is a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. It was, until 2009, a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines, which now holds slightly under 20% of the company. Spanair provides a scheduled passenger network within Spain and... |
4,067,297 | 13,92% |
| 3 | EasyJet EasyJet EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports... |
2,358,738 | 8,07% |
| 4 | Air Europa | 1,673,942 | 5,73% |
| 5 | Iberia | 1,438,459 | 4,92% |
| 6 | Lufthansa Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating... |
1,246,876 | 4,26% |
| 7 | Air France Air France Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance... |
786,565 | 2,69% |
| 8 | Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport.... |
740,750 | 2,53% |
| 9 | Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG is the principal airline of Switzerland operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Its main hub is Zurich Airport... |
628,168 | 2,15% |
| 10 | British Airways British Airways British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations... |
607,008 | 2,07% |
Statistics
Font: Aeroport de Barcelona, AENA Aena Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea , literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", is the Spanish public body that owns and operates the majority of airports in Spain, with the exceptions of the private owned Ciudad Reals and Lleida-Alguaire Airport. Aena is also responsible for Air... . |
|
|
Rail
Terminal 2 has its own Rodalies BarcelonaRodalies Barcelona
Rodalies Barcelona is the commuter rail service that serves Barcelona, and its metropolitan area as well as other parts of the province.Rodalies Barcelona is made up of 13 lines, 6 of which are operated by the Spanish company RENFE and 7 by Generalitat-owned FGC. The whole network—and fare...
commuter train station on the line , which runs from the Maçanet-Massanes
Maçanet-Massanes railway station
Maçanet-Massanes is a railway station propierty of adif and located in the municipality of Maçanet de la Selva , far from downtown. It is situated in the Barcelona-Girona-Portbou Line, branching with Barcelona - Mataró - Maçanet Massanes Line...
station, with major stops at Barcelona Sants railway station
Barcelona Sants railway station
Barcelona Sants railway station or Sants Estació is the main railway station in Barcelona, owned by Adif, the railway infrastructure agency of the Spanish state...
and the fairly central Passeig de Gràcia railway station to provide transfer to the Barcelona Metro
Barcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro , part of the public transportation system of Barcelona, Catalonia, is an extensive network of electrified railways that run underground in central Barcelona and above ground into the city's suburbs. Since July 31, 2010, Barcelona Metro system consists of 11 lines with 165...
system. Passengers for T1 must take a connecting bus from the train station to T1. As part of the major expansion above, a new railway station will be built nearby, connecting the airport to the Spanish AVE
AVE
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird".AVE trains run on a network of...
network, and Line 9
Barcelona Metro line 9
Line 9 is a line of the Barcelona Metro network that is currently under construction, with five stations open in the Santa Coloma de Gramenet suburb since December 2009...
of the Barcelona Metro.
Bus
The Transports Metropolitans de BarcelonaTransports Metropolitans de Barcelona
Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona is the main public transit operator in Barcelona, made up of two formerly separate companies, Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA. and Transports de Barcelona, SA....
(TMB) public bus on line 46 runs every 16 minutes from Plaça Espanya
Plaça d'Espanya (Barcelona)
Plaça d'Espanya is one of Barcelona's most important squares, built on the occasion of the 1929 International Exhibition, held at the foot of Montjuïc, in the Sants-Montjuïc district.-Features:...
. A scheduled private bus line (Aerobús) from Plaça Catalunya
Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona
Plaça de Catalunya is a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet....
, stops at Urgell and Plaça d'Espanya. Taxi stops are available at each terminal. The C-32B highway
C-32 (highway)
C-32 is a primary highway in Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 2004 by merging three sections of existing autopistas and autovías. This re-organisation was part of a renaming of primary highways managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya...
connects the airport to a main traffic interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
between Barcelona's Ronda de Dalt beltway and major motorways.
Airport parking
Barcelona Airport has approximately 24,000 parking spaces (12,000 at T1 & 12,000 at T2), 2,009 of them are in the parking building, placed in front of Terminal 2C, which it is connected to the airport by a covered corridor. In front of Terminal 2A, another parking building, which adds approximately 2,600 more spaces, this building is being extended with the construction of two new levels. The remainder are distributed in other areas on the exterior, in front of the terminal buildings and offices buildings. Since 16/6/2009, there is also a long stay parking between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.Incidents and accidents
- On 21 October 1994 a Falcon 20 cargo aircraft made an emergency landing at the airport after suffering a malfunction in its landing gear; none of the three crewmembers were injured.
- On 19 February 1998, two people, the commander and the pilot died in an Ibertrans general aviationGeneral aviationGeneral aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
plane crash in the borough of GavàGavàGavà is a municipality in Barcelona Province , bordering the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Viladecans and Castelldefels; not to get confused with the village of Gava in the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.Gavà has a beach and two...
shortly after taking off from El Prat.
- On 28 July 1998 a general aviationGeneral aviationGeneral aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
cargo plane carrying press from MallorcaMallorcaMajorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
crashed next to one of the fences surrounding the airport, killing two crew members and co-pilot.
- In 2002, a Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937The 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision occurred at 23:35 UTC on 1 July 2002 between Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over the towns of Überlingen and Owingen in southern Germany...
, which originated in Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, collided with DHL Flight 611 over Germany en route to BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
- On 3 December 2010, during the Spanish air traffic controllers strikeSpanish air traffic controllers strikeThe Spanish air traffic controllers strike began on December 3, 2010 when most air traffic controllers in Spanish airports walked out in a coordinated wildcat strike...
, Barcelona Airport remained unoperative when all Spanish air traffic controllers walked out in a coordinated wildcat strikeWildcat strike actionA wildcat strike action, often referred to as a wildcat strike, is a strike action taken by workers without the authorization of their trade union officials. This is sometimes termed unofficial industrial action...
. Following the walkout, the Spanish Government authorized the Spanish military to take over air traffic control operations. On the morning of December 4, the government declared a 'State of Alert', ordering on the controllers back to work. Shortly after the measure was implemented, controllers started returning to work and the strike was called off.
Further reading
- Zunino, Eric (November 2004) "Barcelona Airport", Airline World, pp. 40–43.