Madrid–Barajas Airport

Inside Terminal 4

Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD  ^IATA) is the main airport of Madrid. It is an important connection point for flights between Europe and Latin America and home base of Spain's flag carrier Iberia as well as Air Europa.

Understand

Barajas is 13 km from the city center of Madrid. It is one of the largest airports in Europe and is served by many airlines. It is the main base for Spanish flag carrier Iberia. The airport has 4 terminals. Terminal 4 has won architectural awards, and might be worth the trip to have a look even if you are not flying.

Flights

Barajas is the 5th busiest airport in Europe and there are direct flights to most major airports in Europe and the Americas. There are some flights from African and Middle Eastern destinations as well, and direct flights to Asian destinations such as Beijing Capital Airport, Seoul Incheon, Bangkok and Tokyo Narita. If you are flying from Europe to Latin America - especially if you want to avoid traveling through the United States chances are you will either fly out of or change planes in Madrid Barajas. The route between Barajas and Barcelona El Prat Airport used to be the busiest air route in the world, and though it is still a popular route, the advent of high speed rail has led to a sustained decline of air passenger figures and fierce competition on price.

Terminals

There are four terminals.

• 1 Terminal T1 is the main terminal.
• 2 Terminal T2 is used by domestic flights and flights to destinations in the Schengen Area.
• 3 Terminal T3 is used by Iberia and Air Nostrum for flights to France and Portugal.
• 4 Terminal T4, was opened in 2006. It's primarily used for Iberia flights and as a check in terminal for oneworld flights.
  • 5 Terminal T4 Satellite (T4S) a satellite terminal of Terminal T4 which is a separate building. It is used by T4 airlines for flights outside the Schengen Area.

Ground transportation

By bus

By far the most convenient way of reaching downtown is a 24-hour express bus service that passes all terminals and then goes directly to 1 O'Donell metro stop, 2 Plaza de Cibeles (a 20-minute walk or quick metro ride to Puerta del Sol) and 3 Atocha rail station (not serviced between 23:30 and 06:00). €5 per trip, contactless cards or cash accepted, payable on entry to driver; the largest note accepted is €20. Departures from 06:00-23:30 are every 15-20 min, from 23:30-06:00 every 35 min. The travel time from Terminal 4 (end of line) to Cibeles is 40 minutes.

Public bus 200 operates between the airport and the 4 bus station on Avenida de América in Madrid. It is only €1.50 (contactless card or cash) and you can use your weekly ticket or 10-trip ticket.

Public night bus N4 goes from Plaza Cibeles to 5 Plaza Hnos Falco y Alvarez de Toledo in the Barajas district, a 400-metre walk from the terminal through a passageway over the highway. It's best to get off at the second-last stop, Avenida Central, and then make a right turn immediately after the bus stop. Go straight on, keep going straight crossing the parking lot, and then you make a left to cross another huge parking lot. After that you see the road and the pedestrian highway overpass. Only €1.50, and the 10-trip ticket is valid as well.

By train or metro

	Note: After track improvement works, and following a light redesign of the Cercanias lines, from now on all C-1 trains will depart from and end when arriving to Chamartín station. This is now the only Cercanías line that serves the airport as line C-10 no longer continues to the Airport and ends its service at Chamartín station.
	(Information last updated 15 Dec 2024)

The airport is connected to the city centre by the Cercanías C-1 commuter train. Trains depart from the basement of Terminal T4 (towards Chamartín) every 20 minutes from 05:50 to 00:05 (next day), with a fare of €2.60. Trains in the opposite direction (from Chamartín station to Terminal T4) depart from 05:29 to 23:45, also every 20 minutes.

Trips on Cercanías services can be loaded on a Renfe&Tú paper transport card (only valid for Cercanías trips), which has a price of €0.50 and can be purchased along with a ticket on any Cercanías ticket machine. As of Sept 2021, trips can also be paid directly at fare gates with a contactless card. The contactless card must be tapped both at entry in origin station and at exit from destination station. The corresponding fare will be calculated based on the stations where the card was tapped and the amount will be deduced from the card used to tap.

6 Charmartín rail station (travel time 15 minutes, 2 stops) has long distance connections. To travel to further away stations you must transfer to other Cercanías lines at Chamartín. 7 Nuevos Ministerios (travel time 20 minutes, 3 stops) has connections to lines C-3 and C-4 (on platform 8) as well as to the Metro; Atocha rail station (25 minutes, 5 stops) has long-distance and high-speed rail connections; and 8 Méndez Álvaro (29 minutes) and 9 Príncipe Pío (38 minutes) serve as hubs for long-distance buses.

The Metro runs from all terminals to Nuevos Ministerios downtown (line 8 pink, from 06:05 to 01:30, fare €4.50 if travelling 5 stations or less. Up to €0.50 extra when traveling more than 5 stations. Maximum price to Madrid city center is €5.00).

As of writing this update, there is no updated combined Metro and commuter train map available. You can check the updated Cercanías map here´and a Metro map here.

By taxi

Taxis from the airport to anywhere in the inner city have a flat fare of €33. There are taxi stands outside all terminals except the satellite terminal T4S. Rideshare services like Uber, Cabify and Bolt pick up passengers from separate designated pick-up areas at Terminals 1, 2 (shared with Terminal 3) and 4.

By car

Although driving into and around Madrid is normally not recommended, Free2move, Voltio, WiBLE and Zity vehicles are available at the airport. All four services have vehicles available for rent at the Terminal 1 parking lot. Free2move and Zity vehicles are also available at the Terminal 2 parking garage, while at the Terminal 4 parking garage Free2move, Zity and WiBLE vehicles are available. Keep in mind that all four services charge a supplement (between €6-10) for trips starting or ending at the airport, so check first if it may be cheaper to take a taxi or a rideshare than to drive.

Several rent-a-car companies also have offices at the airport, either inside the terminal or at a designated parking lot or garage.

Get around

By bus

If transferring at Barajas, you may need to plan in some extra time because the terminals are rather spread out. T4 and T4S are about 4 km north of T1, T2, and T3. T4 is connected to T1-3 with free shuttle busses.

By automatic train

The two buildings of terminal 4 (T4 and T4S) are about 2 km apart. They are connected by an automatic underground train line, an Automatic People Mover (APM). A journey takes approximately 3 min.

Eat and drink

All terminals are equipped with restaurants and bars.

For an inexpensive bite to eat (compared with the extortionate offerings elsewhere in the airport) seek out 100 Montaditos opposite gate D64 in Terminal 3.

Buy

There are over 100 stores at the airport.

Connect

Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the airport. Free outlets for charging mobile devices are scattered throughout all terminals.

Spanish pre-paid SIM cards are sold in Crystal Media Shops in Terminals 1 and 4S.

Terminal 4 is served by an Orange store that offers tourists a €45 30-day plan and a luggage store next to the rental car parking area that offers Orange plans for €35 and €45. Much cheaper plans (€10 to €20) can be found at stores and kiosks in Madrid.

Cope

• Airport information: +34 902 404 704
• ATM's are located in terminals 2 and 4.
• Tourist offices (Oficina de información turística aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas) (in terminals 1,2 and 4). Mon-Sat 9AM-8PM; Sun and public holidays 9AM-2PM. Closed May 1st, December 25th and January 1st. (updated Dec 2024)
• Airport information website

Sleep

There are no hotels at the airport, but there are several in the district of Barajas, a little more than a kilometer from the terminals.

• 1 Ibis Hotel Madrid Barajas, 49 Avenida General, ☏ +34 91 3010999. Check-in: noon, check-out: noon. Includes free transportation to the airport from 06:00 to 23:30. (updated Jun 2018)

Nearby

• Madrid is 13 km (8.1 mi) from the airport, accessible by metro, bus or taxi.