Non-Subscriber ExtractBarcelona terminal goes to Plan |
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By Ben Vogel
21 August 2009
The new Terminal 1 at Barcelona Airport, pictured shortly before it opened on 17 June. (Barco)
Barcelona handled 30.21 million passengers and 321,491 takeoffs and landings in 2008, making it the second-largest airport in Spain behind Madrid Barajas and the ninth-busiest in Europe.
State-owned operator AENA and the Ministry of Development are engaged in an ambitious development programme – called Plan Barcelona – that is intended to consolidate Barcelona's national and regional position. The project reached a significant landmark on 17 June with the opening of Terminal 1 (T1) - claimed by AENA as "one of the largest civil engineering projects ever undertaken in Europe".
The terminal building, designed by local architect Ricardo Bofill, is structured around three main elements: processing (check-in, baggage reclaim and airside shopping); one longitudinal and two lateral piers for passenger boarding; and an intermodal lobby where rail and road transport connect with the airport.
T1 has a stated operational capacity of 30 million passengers per year, bringing total handling capacity of the two terminals to 55 million (the previous terminals A, B and C have been combined into Terminal 2).