When you arrive or depart Madrid by air, you’ll need to go to Barajas International Airport. The airport is one of the biggest of the world and consists of five terminals. So you need to know in advance what terminal your flight departs. Your terminal depends on your airline:- T1 is the oldest and one of the biggest terminals. Right now (this information may change, altough it's not very likely) the airlines that operate there are: Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Plus Comet, Air Europa (non Schengen flights only), Air France, Air Madrid, Air Malta, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Blue Air, British Midland Airways, Bulgaria Air, Continental Airlines, Cubana de Aviación, Delta Airlines, Easyjet, Furura Int, Germanwings, Helvetic Airways, Hola Airlines (non Schengen only), Klm Royal Dutch Airlines, Lloyd Aeroboliviano, Lot-Polskie, Lufthansa, Malev-Hungarian, Meridiana, Monarch Airlines, My Way, Pluna, Pullmantur, Portugalia, Santa Barbara, Scandinavian SAS, Spanair (non Schengen only), Swiss, Thai Airways, Transavia Holland, Travel Service, Tunis Air, US Airways and Varig.
- T2. Air Berlin, Girjet, Ltu Intl Airways and Tap Air Portugal for all their flights. Air Europa, Hola Airlines and Spanair for Schengen destinations only.
- T3. The smallest. By the moment, only Lagun Air operates here.
- T4. Opened this year, it's the biggest terminal. The building was designed by the famous British architect Richard Rogers and it's impressive. Iberia is located here, and also Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, Air Algerie, Air Cairo, Air Nostrum, Air Senegal, American Airlines, Avianca, British Airways, Czech Airlines, Egypt Air, El Al, Finnair, Lan Chile, Lan Ecuador, Iberia, Iberworld, Japan Airlines, Luxair, Sterling-Maersk Air, Olympic Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, SN Brussels, Syrian Arab Airlines, Tarom, Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde, Turkish Airlines, Ukraine Int, Virgin Express and Vueling.
- T4S. This is a satellite terminal for many flights of T4. You have to check-in at T4, and then cross a police control and take an underground remote-controlled train, that will take you to the satellite in 3 minutes. This is the only way of going there. The T4S is 2 km. far from the T4 (the closest terminal) and you need a passenger ticket.
The airport is extremely well connected to Madrid and there are several ways to get to and to get from the city.
METRO (Subway). This is the best and cheapest way to get to the city centre. Madrid subway is very modern, fast, clean and efficient, and the journey only cost 1 €. The line of the airport is the pink one (line 8). The station name is "Aeropuerto", and it's located at terminal 2. It's easily accesible from terminals 1, 2 and 3. If you arrive at or depart from terminals 4 and 4S, you will need to take a free transfer bus at the subway station. Buses are frequent and the journey takes 5-10 minutes. On december 2006, another metro station will open at T4, so the transfer bus won't be needed.
Once in the subway, go to the end of the line 8, and change at Nuevos Ministerios to line 10 (normally you will need to take this one) or line 6, depending on where your hotel is. Another option is to change to line 4 at Mar de Cristal, but it's not very recommendable, as this is a slower line, with much more stops.
METRO/BUS combination. The best way to get to hotels along or near the Paseo del Prado or Paseo de Castellana (these are basically the same road--a major street that runs north and south on the east side of the center of Madrid) is to take Metro number 8 from Terminal 2 at the airport (has elevators and escalators for easy movement of luggage) and get off at the end of the line--Nuevo Ministerios. This metro stop also has an elevator and escalators. Exit to Paseo de Castellana and on the west side of the street there is a bus stop shelter. Take a bus south--Bus 14 and bus 27 both go south as far as the Atocha train station. The 10 ticket metro pass (6.45 Euros) can be used for both the metro and busses. This avoids carrying luggage up and down stairs in the metro stops, most of which do not have elevators and escalators.
BUS. Bus lines to the airport are now changing. More information should be available soon.
TAXI. There are plenty of cabs. Take only official ones, which are white with a red stripe at the door. Make sure they turn on the meter when you hire them. They shouldn’t charge you more than 30 € to the centre, but it depends on the traffic and destination. Avoid them, if possible, during rush hours (8-9 am, 1:30-3 pm and 5:30-8 pm) from monday to fridays, as the traffic can be congested.
