ON TOUR: Madrid”s New Airport Terminal is Ready
King Juan Carlos of Spain is due to officially open Madrid Airport”s spectacular Terminal 4 next Saturday 4 February. Overnight Iberia and its oneworld partners, including British Airways, will close their existing Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 facilities and transfer to the exciting E6bn project led by Heathrow T5 designer the Richard Rodgers Partnership in association with the Spanish architect Antonio Lamela. It is an amazing project, part of an Olympic dream that will not take place. But, to the surprise of some, it is happening.
Speaking on behalf of oneworld managing partner John McCulloch said: ”Madrid”s magnificent Terminal 4 provides us with fantastic ground facilities to match at the alliance”s main gateway between Europe and Latin America ” a world-class airport building which will transform the airport experience for passengers travelling with our airlines to and from the Spanish capital. It is the main hub for carriers to South America and in the other direction serves as the connecting point for every major city in Europe. It is the alliance”s biggest and most significant co-location move yet. In passenger terms it is the culmination of our efforts to ensure that flying with a oneworld airline is seamless in benefits”.
Iberia serves seven UK airports from Madrid and 18 Latin America destinations. (all countries except Paraguay, Bolivia, El Salvador and Nicaragua), all with three class Airbus A340 aircraft which are now being fitted with business class lie-flat seats. Five of the alliance”s other partners also used Madrid Airport ” American Airlines, British Airways, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus ” along with members elect Mal”v and Royal Jordanian.
Currently, these airlines operate from two separate terminals at the city”s Barajas Airport. Between them, they carried more than 26m passengers to and from Madrid last year, and currently operate a total of 650 arriving and departing flights a day to more than 100 destinations in 42 countries worldwide from the airport.
Terminal 4 comprises two buildings ” the main terminal and its south satellite, either side of one the airports four runways. The two facilities are connected by an underground high-speed people mover, departing every three minutes (two minutes at peak times) and taking less than four minutes to complete the journey. The main terminal building will be used by domestic and European ”Schengen” country flights, while Iberia long haul services, British Airways, American Airlines, LAN, Mal”v and Royal Jordanian will operate from the satellite. However all check-in and baggage collection, together with security controls, will be in the main terminal building, even for flights operating to or from the satellite.
The new facility has three executive lounges, one in the main building and two in the satellite, the two largest each accommodating up to 360 passengers. Spanish in style the facilities include a wine bar, Wi FI and pc facilities including peripherals (scanner, fax, printer etc), showers, meeting rooms and a smoking area. The man lounge is called "Dal”" and the largest one in the satellite, "Vel”zquez" after the renowned 17 century painter, said to be Spain”s greatest, whilst the smallest offering is called "Goya", perhaps an indication of the pecking order of the artists.
Outside, the road approaches to the main terminal building provide 12 lanes ” six each for departures and arrivals. Three lanes are dedicated to taxis, two to buses and one for private vehicles. There is a massive car park with space for 9,000 vehicles. The Madrid Metro is currently being extended to the new terminal, which will have its own station, due to complete during the second half of this year. Until then, passengers using the Metro will need to connect by coach at the existing terminals.
With two new runways also opening at Madrid Barajas at the same time as Terminal 4, the airport will be able to increase its aircraft movements from 78 to 120 an hour and almost double its passenger capacity, to 70m passengers a year.
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