Madrid Flights

Madrid Barajas is the airport of Madrid and one of Europe's largest airports. Iberia has it's home-base here and every mayor European airline flies to Madrid. Low-cost flights can be found as well. Most well known are Easyjet, Transavia, Virgin Express and Air Berlin which offer flights to several destinations through Europe. But be advised, Iberia can sometimes be the cheaper option!

For those who want to fly Ryanair, the most proximate airport is Valladolid (about 2hrs by bus).

The Barajas International Airport welcomes all international flights arriving in Madrid. It is situated 13 kilometres at the northeast of the capital. This short distance means that travellers can save considerable time and money while coming and going to the airport.

Madrid Barajas Airport, from which over 100 airline companies from various countries operate, has the highest level of air traffic in Spain and is amongst the top five in Europe. Torrejón Airport, not far from the capital, also receives some private flights, particularly air taxis. Barajas currently has three operative terminals. In 2005 a new terminal should come into use that will enable the number of passengers to be doubled. This means that instead of the 35 million passengers per year that Barajas currently registers, the number could rise to 70 million.

Terminal 1 (T1) is the base for international flights; Terminal 2 (T2) is for flights operated by the Spanish national airline Iberia to and from those countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement; while Terminal 3 (T3) is for domestic flights.

All manner of services are available amongst the airport facilities: children’s area, cafeterias and restaurants, chemists, post office, banks, car hire companies, bookshops and newspaper kiosks, various kinds of shops, car parks, emergency area, medical service, police station and nearby hotels.

Flying to/from South America is maybe best to make from/to Madrid. I have used AirMadrid plane, this time AirBus A330-200 which was bought/rented from NovAir, a Swedish/Swiss flight company. Travelling was nice, sleeping above Atlantic and Brazil, and already the night in Lima.

Updating (the last day of 2006): On 5. November 2006 the flight was 5 hours late, but otherwice the trip was nice, pilots professional, etc. I had return tickets aftre 3 months, and I was relly worried, how this will end!? And soon it was in the news: the license of airMadrid was cancelled! So I had to get new tickets from airPlus Comet-company. Now I'm worring that that company makes bankrot, and my money has worn out!!!

Madrid Barajas Airport has the best (free) children's play area of any airport I know.

For 6 and over there is a giant play area, and for under 6, there is a guardaria which has a play area, kitchen, cot room, and toilet facilities for kids, as well as a big changing area.

Located between terminal B and C.

Word of warning though, the airport as a whole is not pushchair friendly.

There is an airport in Madrid (Barajas), so you can fly in if you're coming from outside Europe.

Just a warning though - the airport is extremely crowded. Be sure to arrive early when taking your flight out - leaving Madrid on my first trip to Spain, we didn't arrive at the airport early enough, and our flight ended up being overbooked. So we had to wait until the next day to fly home. If that happens, the airline will probably put you in Hotel Barajas for the night, pay for everything, and give you compensation (we flew Air Canada, but I don't know about other airlines). Although that can turn out to be a good thing, it would suck if you're on a tight schedule for the next few days.

Barajas airport, a abusy one, we really need a bigger one ;-)

You can see how is it from the air.

Most of the flights to another continents arrive and land from Madrid or Barcelona airport, so they are some of the busiest.

Malaga is the 3rd busieer in international flights ;-) too many charters, but in madrid you will find all the conexions to all aprts of Spain

Check

www.iberia.es
www.spanair.es

if you speak spanish this will be helpfull too

www.rumbo.es

Madrid's airport, recently upgraded with new terminals. I have to admit, it's probably the most difficult airport to find your way around in my experience, certainly if you are trying to find a connecting flight. One one occassion returning late at night from Israel and trying to find a connecting flight to Malaga, I went three times around the same building, the signs sending me back to my starting point.

It does have quick and easy access to the city though, with it's Metro connection, the train getting you to the city center in less than 15 minutes.

I've listed another useful kink with transport connections below.

http://www.airwise.com/airports/europe/MAD/index.html

Barajas is one of the busiest airports in Europe and soon it's gonna be bigger and more modern... in construction now.
It's very easy to get from Barajas to the city. Just take the 8 - pink metro line that goes all the way to Nuevos Ministerios and it takes 15 minutes. That line was built in 2000, it's fast, clean and very modern.