Barcelona's international airport, which handles flights to the Catalan capital, is located in Prat de Llobregat, a seaside town about 12 kilometres from Barcelona city centre. Barcelona Airport, which officially bears the name "Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport" since June 2011, consists of Terminals 1 and 2 (2A, 2B and 2C), which receive both national and international flights.
Spread over an area of more than 540,000 m2, Terminal 1 of Barcelona Airport, which was inaugurated in June 2009, handles 70% of the air traffic of the Catalan capital and is located 4 km from Terminal 2.
Boarding takes place at gates A, B, C, D and E depending on your destination :
- A, B, C : Schengen
- D and E : Non Schengen
With no less than 101 boarding gates, 166 check-in points, 20,000 m2 of commercial areas and 12,000 parking spaces spread over its four levels, Terminal 1 of Barcelona Airport is designed to handle an annual movement equivalent to 55 million passengers.
If you are not at the right terminal, you have the option between metro, taxi or shuttle. The Barcelona airport shuttle service is free of charge and runs between the different terminals of the airport, 7 days a week, with a departure every 5 minutes. With the shuttle, which is green and easy to spot, count about 30 minutes between the 2 terminals with the waiting time.
In order to cope with the air traffic that would be generated by the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Barcelona airport underwent extensive widening work to make way for terminals A and C. Following the commissioning of Terminal 1, the former Terminals A, B and C which formed Barcelona Airport are now qualified as T2a, T2b and T2c and form Terminal 2 of the airport.
Barcelona airport Terminal 2 currently hosts low-cost airlines such as Easyjet, Germanwings, Luxair, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Belavia and Blue Air, as well as some local flights.
Each of Barcelona Airport's terminals is equipped with a metro station to provide easy access to the centre of Barcelona.
To travel from Barcelona Airport to the city centre by bus, the aerobus offers a shuttle service available all year round that takes you to Plaça Catalunya via Plaça Espanya, Gran Via Urgell and Plaça Universitat.
Online airport shuttle reservationIn order to get to any of the terminals of Barcelona Airport by metro via line 9, or to get to Barcelona from terminals 1 or 2, travellers will need to take the airport card, which will be available in the appropriate machines as soon as they leave, at a cost of 4.60 €.
The train to Barcelona from the airport is only accessible from Terminal 2. (soon T1) Renfe trains stop at Sants, Plaça Catalunya and Arc de Triomf stations. Renfe trains stop at Sants, Plaça Catalunya and Arc de Triomf stations.
Yellow and black, thanks to their colours the taxis of Barcelona are easily spotted. They can be picked up directly at the exit of each terminal.