Spanish Airport Guide

Most airports in Spain are in excellent condition with modern installations and facilities.

Traffic has steadily increased over the past few years, processing around 275 million passengers and 2.3 million flight operations in 2019.

The Spanish Airport Authority ( Aena ) is ranked among the top four providers of air navigation in Europe and has stakes in London's Luton and Orlandos-Sandford airports.

In 2019 the busiest airport in Spain was once again Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez Airport ( previously Barajas ) which processed around 61.7 million passengers on over 426.000 flights.

Madrid Airport

Spain's Busiest's Airports in 2019

Airport/Passenger Numbers

Madrid – Adolfo Suarez – 61.7 Million
Barcelona El Prat – 52.6 Million
Palma de Mallorca – 29.7 Million
Malaga – 19.8 Million
Alicante – 15.04 Million
Gran Canaria – 13.2 Million

Download the annual Aena airport statistics:

» 2017
» 2018
» 2019
» Up to August 2020

Barcelona El Prat Airport

The International Code for all Spanish Airports

Major airlines flying into Spanish Airports

The national airline of Spain is Iberia with all the major airlines of the world using flying in and out of Spain on a daily basis. The top budget flight carriers continue to increase market share. The main pioneers of budget flights to Spain include Easyjet, Ryanair and Vueling.

Telephone numbers of all the major airline companies based in Spain.

Iberia – Tel. 901 111 500
Air Berlin. Tel. 902 333 335
Air Lingus – Tel. 902 502 737
Air Europe – Tel. 902 401 501
British Airways – Tel. 902 111 333
Easy Jet – Tel. 902 599 900
Lufthansa – Tel. 902 883 882
Qatar Airways. Tel. 917 699 770
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Ryanair – Tel. 00 44 871 2460011
United Airlines. Tel. 900 961 266
Vueling. Tel. 807 300 720
US Airways. Tel. 901 117 073
Wizz Air. Tel. 807 444 041
Emirates. Tel. 912 757 792
Alitalia. Tel. 902 100 323
American Airlines. Tel. 902 115 570
Spanish airport security

The EU flight security regulations need to adhere to all times when flying from an EU airport. The regulations refer specifically to:

The items which you are not allowed on your person when passing through security checkpoints at airports.
The items you are not allowed to carry, even in your checked luggage, onto an aeroplane.
The security controls you will be subject to before boarding your flight.

Security Boarding

The national Spanish security forces and privately contracted security companies ensure passenger safety at all Spanish airports. The security forces include the national police, civil guard, regional police and local municipal police.

All passengers are required to follow the following procedures and rules when it comes to boarding an aircraft.

All passengers accessing boarding areas must pass through a security control point metal detector and passing their hand baggage and any other objects they may be carrying through X-ray screening equipment.
In line with European Union regulations, extra safety measures are in place at all Spanish airports to reinforce the safety of passengers and flights without affecting the overall quality of service. These measures include the inspection of 100% of checked-in luggage and random manual inspections of passengers and hand luggage.
European Commission Regulation laws lay down measures for the implementation of the common basic standards on aviation security, lists the prohibited articles passengers may not carry into security restricted areas or the cabin of an aircraft, and those not allowed in checked-in baggage destined for the aircraft hold.

Checking In

Passengers may also be subjected to random manual inspections by officials at the security check-in area.

– Before going through the security checkpoint, all passengers will be asked to show their boarding passes.

– To help objects pass through the scanner, especially small articles must be placed on trays provided for passengers.

Passengers are required to:

Take off coats/jackets and/or overcoat and place them in the trays provided. These items must be examined separately whilst passengers are being inspected.
Place laptop computers, or any other large electrical item, out of its case and place it in the tray so that it can be inspected separately from the case and the rest of their hand luggage at the security checkpoints.
It is also recommended that passengers remove their belts and any other objects from pockets before passing through the metal-detector arch.

Passengers who for health reasons have implants (pacemakers, cochlear implants, etc.) or appliances such as metal prosthetic s must inform security personnel of their situation before going through the metal detectors so that they can be inspected manually.