Barcelona El Prat Airport

Barcelona El Prat Airport Aeroport de Barcelona – el Prat Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat
IATA: BCN – ICAO: LEBL
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Aena
Serves		Barcelona, Spain
Location		El Prat de Llobregat
Hub for		Vueling Ryanair Iberia Regional Iberia
Elevation AMSL		14 ft / 4 m
Coordinates		41°17′49″N 002°04′42″E
Website		aena-aeropuertos.es
Map
BCN Location within Spain
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
07L/25R	3,352	10,997	Asphalt concrete
07R/25L	2,660	8,727	Asphalt concrete
02/20	2,528	8,293	Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2011)
Passengers 2011			34.399.180
Passenger change 10-11			17,8%
Aircraft Movements			303.047
Movements change 10-11			9,1%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA Spanish AIP, AENA

Barcelona El Prat Airport (IATA: BCN, ICAO: LEBL) (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 centre 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 Vueling and a focus city for Air Europa and Iberia. The airport mainly serves domestic, European and North African destinations, also having flights to Southeast Asia, Latin America and North America. The Airport was a hub for Spanair before it suspended services on January 27th, 2012.

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 30 minutes, and quickly became popular.

In 2011, nearly 34.5 million passengers used Barcelona Airport, a 17,8% increase compared with 2010, making it the 9th busiest airport in Europe. This is a record in history Barcelona Airport, both total numbers of passengers and growth numbers of passengers compared with previous year.

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 Latécoère 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.

Terminal 1

Pakistan International Airlines' first flight to Barcelona from Lahore, an Airbus A310-300 named 'Peshawar' on March 23, 2009

Terminal 2B with artwork by Miró

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.

Barcelona Airport

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 Catalan 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 square kilometres (3.26 to 5.92 sq mi) 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.

Traffic and statistics

Busiest Airports Systems from Barcelona-El Prat Airport (2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1.	Paris	1,995,637	Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Beauvais, Paris	Air France, Vueling, Ryanair, Easyjet
2.	London	1,665,209	Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City	British Airways, Easyjet, Ryanair, Cityflyer Express, Monarch Airlines
3.	Amsterdam	1,316,539	Schiphol	KLM, Vueling, Transavia.com, Easyjet
4.	Milan	990.418	Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo	Vueling, Alitalia, Singapore Airlines, Easyjet, Ryanair
5.	Rome	986.308	Fiumicino, Ciampino	Alitalia, Vueling,Ryanair
6.	Moscow	651.260	Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo	Vueling, Transaero, Aeroflot

Busiest European Routes from Barcelona-El Prat Airport (2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1,316,529	EasyJet, KLM, Transavia.com, Vueling
2	Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France	977,365	Air France, EasyJet
3	Paris-Orly, France	806,421	Brit Air, Vueling
4	Rome-Fiumicino, Italy	748,485	Alitalia, Vueling
5	London-Heathrow, United Kingdom	710,368	British Airways
6	Munich, Germany	648,786	Lufthansa,Spanair
7	Lisbon-Portela, Portugal	628,759	EasyJet, Portugália, TAP Portgual, Vueling
8	Frankfurt-International, Germany	627,748	Lufthansa
9	Milan-Malpensa, Italy	610,278	Vueling, EasyJet
10	Zurich, Switzerland	522,116	Swiss International Airlines, Vueling
11	Geneva, Switzerland	521,408	Swiss International Airlines, EasyJet Switzerland
12	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom	517,820	Easyjet, Monarch
13	Brussels, Belgium	508,302	Vueling, Brussels Airlines
14	Copenhagen, Denmark	408,256	Cimber Sterling, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Spanair, Transavia.com Denmark
15	Moscow Domeodovo, Russia	376,966	Aeroflot, Transero Airlines, Ural Airlines, VIM Airlines, Vueling
16	Vienna, Austria	359,864	Austrian Airlines, Niki, Vueling
17	Venice-Marco Polo, Italy	325,437	Vueling, Spanair
18	Prague-Ruzhyne, Czech Republic	308,316	Czech Airlines, Vueling
19	Porto, Portugal	292,475	TAP Portugal, Ryanair
20	Stockholm Arlanda, Sweden	283,983	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Spanair

Busiest Intercontinental Routes from Barcelona-El Prat Airport(2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Ben Gurion International Airport	346,676	Vueling, Sun d'Or International Airlines, Spanair, Arkia Israel Airlines, Air Europa
2	New York-JFK, United States	329,719	Delta Airlines, American Airlines
3	Casablanca Mohamed V, Morocco,	175,121	Royal Air Maroc, Jet4you, Air Arabia Marroc
4	Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson, United States	146,065	Delta Airlines
5	Doha, Qatar	138,873	Qatar Airways
6	Alger Houari Boumediene, Algeria	111,146	Air Algérie, Spanair
7	Newark, United States	100,166	United Airlines
8	Philadelphia, United States	91.433	U.S Airways
9	Singapore-Changi, Singapore	90,093	Singapore Airlines
10	Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Argentina	90,062	Aerolíneas Argentinas
11	Bogota-El Dorado, Colombia	86,242	Avianca
12	Tangier, Morocco	84,625	Air Arabia Maroc, Royal Air Marroc, Jet4you
13	São Paulo-Guarulhos, Brazil	66,053	Singapore Airlines, Iberia
14	Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Canada	65,028	Air Canada, Air Transat
15	Toronto-Pearson, Canada	64,594	Air Canada, Air Transat
16	Mexico City-Benito Juarez, Mexico	60,869	Aeromexico
17	Miami International, United States	46,446	Iberia

Busiest Domestic Routes from Barcelona-El Prat Airport(2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Madrid-Barajas, Community of Madrid	3.128.534	Iberia, Spanair, Vueling, Air Europa
2	Palma de Majorca, Balearic Islands	1.641.387	Vueling Airlines, Spanair, Ryanair, Niki, Air Europa
3	Seville-San Pablo, Andalusia	1.075.530	Ryanair, Spanair, Vueling
4	Ibiza, Balearic Islands	873.128	Vueling, Spanair, Air Europa
5	Malaga-Costa del Sol, Andalusia	862.969	Vueling, Air Europa, Ryanair, Spanair
6	Minorca, Balearic Islands	689,869	Vueling, Spanair
7	Bilbao, Basque Country	589.552	Vueling, Spanair, Air Nostrum
8	Santiago de Compostela, Galicia	453.534	Ryanair, Spanair, Vueling
9	Gran Canaria, Canarias	416.076	Air Europa, Ryanair, Spanair, Vueling
10	Federico Garcia Lorca Granada-Jaén, Andalusia	409.966	Vueling
11	Alicante-El Altet, Valencian Community	361.707	Spanair, Vueling

Terminals

Terminal 1

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 from the tarmac

Terminal 1 interior

The new Terminal 1, designed by Ricardo Bofill was inaugurated on 16 June 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 empty until the airport authorities lowered landing fees to attract low-cost and regional carriers to fill the terminal, although nowhere near full-capacity.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Adria Airways	Seasonal: Ljubljana	1
Aegean Airlines	Athens	1
Aer Lingus	Cork, Dublin Seasonal: Belfast-International	2
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo	1
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires-Ezeiza	1
Aeroméxico	Seasonal: Mexico City	1
Air Algérie	Algiers, Oran	1
Air Arabia Maroc	Casablanca, Nador, Tangier	2
AirBaltic	Riga	1
Air Berlin	Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Palma de Mallorca, Stuttgart	2
Air Canada	Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson	1
Air Europa	Budapest [begins 25 March 2012], Ibiza, Madrid, Minorca, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife-North Charter: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Seasonal: Bari [begins 12 June 2012], Copenhagen [begins 27 May 2012], Fuerteventura, Tenerife-South	1
Air France	Marseille [begins 25 March 2012], Paris-Charles de Gaulle	1
Air France operated by Brit Air	Lyon, Paris-Orly	1
Air France operated by Régional	Bordeaux	1
Air Transat	Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson	2
Air Transport International	Seasonal: Aguadilla	1
Alitalia	Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino	1
Alitalia operated by Air One	Venice-Marco Polo [begins 4 May 2012]	1
American Airlines	Miami [begins 4 April 2012], New York-JFK	1
Astra Airlines	Thessaloniki	2
Arkefly	Seasonal: Amsterdam	2
Arkia Israel Airlines	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	1
Austrian Airlines	Vienna	1
Avianca	Bogotá	1
Belle Air	Seasonal: Tirana	2
Blue Air	Bucharest-Băneasa [ends 24 March 2012], Bucharest-Henri Coandă [begins 25 March 2012]	2
Bmibaby	Birmingham [begins 29 March 2012] Seasonal: Nottingham/East Midlands	2
British Airways	London-Heathrow	1
British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer	London-City	1
Brussels Airlines	Brussels	1
Cimber Sterling	Copenhagen	2
City Airline	Gothenburg-Landvetter	2
Croatia Airlines	Seasonal: Rijeka [begins 5 June], Zagreb	1
Czech Airlines	Prague	1
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, New York-JFK	1
EasyJet	Amsterdam, Belfast-International, Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June 2012], Berlin-Schönefeld [ends 2 June 2012], Bristol, Dortmund, Lisbon, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Southend [begins 2 April 2012], London-Stansted, Lyon, Milan-Malpensa, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nice [begins 30 March 2012], Paris-Charles de Gaulle	2
EasyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva	2
El Al	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	1
Emirates	Dubai [begins 3 July 2012]	1
Finnair	Helsinki	1
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal: Istanbul-Ataturk	1
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn, Hanover, Stuttgart	2
Helitt Líneas Aéreas	Melilla, San Sebastian	1
Iberia	Madrid, Miami [ends 3 April 2012], Sao Paulo-Guarulhos	1
Iberia operated by Air Nostrum	Almería, Bologna, Burgos, León, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Pamplona, Salamanca, San Sebastián, Santander, Valladolid Seasonal: Catania, Corfu, Melilla, Olbia	1
Iceland Express operated by Holidays Czech Airlines	Seasonal: Reykjavík-Keflavík (Resumes 1 June 2012)	2
Icelandair	Seasonal: Reykjavik-Keflavík	2
I-Fly	Seasonal: Moscow-Vnukovo	2
Jet2.com	Glasgow-International [begins 29 March 2012], Leeds/Bradford, Manchester [begins 28 March 2012]	2
Jet4you	Nador [ends 23 March 2012], Tangier [ends 24 March 2012]	2
Jet4you operated by Jetairfly	Nador [begins 31 March 2012], Tangier [begins 3 April 2012]	2
KLM	Amsterdam	1
Kogalymavia	Seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo	2
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw-Chopin	1
Lufthansa	Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June], Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich	1
Luxair	Luxembourg	2
Monarch	London-Gatwick, Manchester	2
Niki	Vienna, Palma de Mallorca	2
Nordwind Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk, Kemerovo	2
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Bergen, Copenhagen, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Helsinki, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda	2
Onur Air	Seasonal: Istanbul-Atatürk	1
Orbest Orizonia Airlines	Seasonal: Arrecife, Cancun, Lisbon, Santa Cruz de la Palma	1
Pakistan International Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore	2
Pegasus Airlines	Seasonal: Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen	1
Qatar Airways	Doha	1
Rossiya	Seasonal: St Petersburg	2
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca, Tangier	1
Royal Jordanian	Amman	1
Ryanair	Arrecife, Alicante [begins 25 March 2012], Beauvais-Tillé, Bilbao [begins 1 May 2012], Brussels-Charleroi, Budapest, Cagliari [ends 24 March 2012], Dublin, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Glasgow-Prestwick [begins 25 March 2012], Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lubeck [begins 27 March 2012], Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool [begins 25 March 2012], London-Stansted, Malaga, Memmingen [begins 25 March 2012], Milan-Orio al Serio, Minorca [begins 1 May 2012], Nottingham/East Midlands [begins 25 March 2012], Oslo-Rygge, Oviedo[begins 3 April 2012], Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Poznań, Rome-Ciampino, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Stockholm-Skavsta [begins 25 March 2012], Tenerife-South, Treviso, Trieste [begins 25 March 2012], Valladolid, Vilnius, Weeze [ends 24 March 2012]	2
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen [begins 27 March 2012], Oslo-Gardermoen Seasonal: Bergen [begins 28 June 2012], Stavanger [begins 28 June 2012], Stockholm-Arlanda [begins 25 March 2012], Trondheim [begins 2 July 2012]	1
Singapore Airlines	São Paulo-Guarulhos, Singapore	1
Smartwings	Budapest [begins 26 April 2012]	2
Sky Work Airlines	Berne	2
Sun d'Or opreated by El Al	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	1
Sunwing Airlines	Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson [begins 16 June 2012]	2
Swiss International Air Lines	Geneva, Zürich	1
Swiss International Air Lines operated by BMI	Basel/Mulhouse	1
Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss European Air Lines	Basel/Mulhouse	1
TACV	Seasonal: Sal	2
TAP Portugal	Lisbon	1
TAP Portugal operated by Portugália	Lisbon, Porto	1
TAROM	Bucharest-Henri Coandă	1
Tatarstan Airlines	Seasonal: Kazan, Moscow-Domodedovo	2
Transaero Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo Seasonal: Novosibirsk, St Petersburg	2
Transavia	Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam	2
Tunisair	Tunis	1
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk	1
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil	1
Ural Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo, Yekaterinburg	2
United Airlines	Newark	1
US Airways	Seasonal: Philadelphia	1
VIM Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo	2
Vladivostok Air	Charter: Moscow-Vnukovo	2
Vueling Airlines	Aalborg [begins 25 March 2012], A Coruña, Alicante, Almeria [begins 27 March 2012], Amsterdam, Arrecife [begins 22 June 2012], Athens, Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June 2012], Berlin-Tegel [begins 25 March 2012, ends 2 June 2012], Bilbao, Bordeaux, Brest [begins 25 March 2012], Brussels, Cardiff [begins 27 March 2012], Copenhagen [begins 25 March 2012], Edinburgh [begins 23 June 2012], Florence [begins 25 March 2012], Genoa, Granada, Groningen [begins 28 April 2012], Hamburg [begins 25 March 2012], Ibiza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lille [begins 25 March 2012], Lisbon, Lourdes [begins 23 June 2012], Lyon [begins 25 March 2012], Madrid, Málaga, Malmo [begins 25 June 2012], Malta, Marrakech, Marseille [begins 25 March 2012], Milan-Malpensa, Minorca, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich [begins 25 March 2012], Nantes, Naples, Nice [begins 25 March 2012], Nuremberg [begins 25 June 2012], Oviedo, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Orly, Pisa, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, San Sebastian [begins 25 March 2012], Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Southampton [begins 23 June 2012], Split [begins 23 June 2012], Stavanger [begins 25 June 2012], Stockholm-Arlanda, Strasbourg [begins 25 March 2012], Tenerife-North, Toulouse, Venice-Marco Polo, Vienna, Vigo, Zürich Seasonal: Dubrovnik, Heraklion, Jerez de la Frontera, Mykonos, Santorini, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Tenerife-South, Verona	1
Wind Jet	Seasonal: Catania, Palermo	2
Wizz Air	Bucharest-Băneasa [ends 24 March 2012], Bucharest-Henri Coanda [begins 25 March 2012], Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Gdańsk, Katowice, Poznań, Prague, Sofia, Târgu Mureş, Timisoara, Vilnius, Warsaw-Chopin [ends 17 July 2012], Warsaw-Modlin [begins 19 July 2012]	2

^1 : Some of these flights may make a stop en route to the listed destination. However, the airline does not have the rights to carry passengers solely between Barcelona and the intermediate stop..

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
British Airways World Cargo	East Midlands, London-Heathrow, London-Luton
Cargolux	Hong Kong, Jeddah, Luxembourg
DHL	Vitoria-Gasteiz
FedEx Express	Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Lufthansa Cargo	Frankfurt
Swiftair
Swiss WorldCargo	Zürich
TNT Airways	Liege, Brussels
UPS Airlines	Cologne/Bonn, Valencia

Busiest airlines

Busiest Airlines (2010)

Rank	Airline	Passengers	Percentage
1	Vueling Airlines	7,225,234	24,73%
2	EasyJet	2,358,738	8,07%
3	Air Europa	1,673,942	5,73%
4	Iberia	1,438,459	4,92%
5	Lufthansa	1,246,876	4,26%
6	Air France	786,565	2,69%
7	Ryanair	740,750	2,53%
8	Swiss International Air Lines	628,168	2,15%
9	British Airways	607,008	2,07%

Statistics

Graphical volume of passenger traffic between 1963 and 2006

Passenger Volume Year Passengers % Year Passengers % 1963 1,000,000 - 2000 19,809,567 +13.8 1977 5,000,000 - 2001 20,745,536 +4.7 1990 9,205,000 - 2002 21,348,211 +2.9 1991 9,145,000 -0.7 2003 22,752,667 +6.6 1992 10,196,000 +11.5 2004 24,558,138 +7.9 1993 9,999,000 -2.0 2005 27,152,745 +10.6 1994 10,647,285 +6.5 2006 30,008,152 +10.5 1995 11,727,814 +10.1 2007 32,898,249 +9.6 1996 13,434,679 +14.6 2008 30,208,134 -8.2 1997 15,065,724 +12.1 2009 27,311,765 -9.4 1998 16,194,805 +7.3 2010 29,209,595 +6.5 1999 17,421,938 +7.6 2011 34,399,180 +17,8 Font: Aeroport de Barcelona, AENA.

Operations Volume Year Operations % 1999 233,609 - 2000 255,913 +9.5 2001 273,119 +6.3 2002 271,023 -0.8 2003 282,021 +4.1 2004 291,369 +3.3 2005 307,798 +5.6 2006 327,636 +6.4 2007 352,501 +7.6 2008 321,491 -8.8 2009 2010 2011

Cargo Volume Year Tonnes % 1999 88,217 - 2000 88,269 +2.4 2001 81,882 -7.8 2002 75,905 -7.3 2003 70,118 -7.6 2004 84,985 +21.2 2005 90,446 +6.4 2006 93,404 +3.3 2007 96,770 +3.6 2008 104,329 +7.7 2009 2010 2011

Ground transportation

Rail

Main article: Aeroport railway station (el Prat)

Terminal 2 has its own Rodalies Barcelona 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.

Bus

The Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (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.

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 aviation plane crash in the borough of Gavà shortly after taking off from El Prat.

• On 28 July 1998 a general aviation cargo plane carrying press from Mallorca crashed next to one of the fences surrounding the airport, killing two crew members and co-pilot.

• On 1 July 2002, in the Überlingen mid-air collision, the Bashkirian Airlines aircraft involved was headed for El Prat Airport from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow.

• On 3 December 2010, during the Spanish air traffic controllers strike, Barcelona Airport remained inoperative when all Spanish air traffic controllers walked out in a coordinated wildcat strike. 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.

External links

• Official website (English) (Catalan) (Spanish)
• Useful information about Barcelona-El Prat Airport (English) (Catalan) (Spanish)