Originally Posted by
BA6501
Yes. You need to view MAD as essentially two airports that happen to share runways. T123 are the 'old' airport, T4 is the 'new' airport, and they are separated by a couple km and an entire village. It's a solid 5-minute drive on the motorway between the two, to give you an idea of distance.
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If you are actually transferring - as in, connecting on a same booking - there are very few cases where anyone would have to go between terminal complexes in MAD, and even less so in BCN seeing as T2 is primarily if not exclusively low cost. MAD is actually surprisingly smooth, particularly compared with places like most LHR/CDG combinations.
Originally Posted by
craigthemif
Yes. Worth adding that LCC Vueling is in Terminal 1 at BCN, so you would have to be a real glutton for punishment to fly into T2 (Ryanair, Easyjet, etc.) with an onward ticket out of T1.
Many thanks guys for taking your time to explain everything - soaking up this info has been a real eye-opener as to the transfer process, how to plan & what to expect.
I've literally mapped out every connection I will be using according to the terminals involved. So MAD all set with the 1/2/3 and 4/4S divide and not mixing the two. Seems like the train to the city goes from T4 so that will be an added bonus when flying in/out during normal hours.
Likewise BCN with 1 & 2. Good find with Vueling as not only will they be useful with an onwards connection to LGW, but also to any other proper destination on a proper airline.