northeastflyer

In the meantime are there plenty of shops, cafes etc open in airside departures?

tobsw

That's the current situation at Madrid Airport :

• Commercial services. At Terminal T4, the restaurants Paul, Enrique Tomás, Café Pans and Deli&Cia (at the boarding area). The pharmacies and vending machines located at the check-in and the boarding areas, the central shop Duty Free, the food shop Enrique Tomás (at the boarding area) and the fashion stores Max Mara and Sunglass Hut at the boarding area. At Terminal T1, the restaurants Lavazza and Laplace and Madrid Duty Free and Parfois shops (at the boarding area); vending machines (at the check-in and boarding areas), and the pharmacy and the tobbaconist's located at the public access area.

Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport - Official Website - Aena.es

jackr27

I received an email last week from Iberia saying they are working to open their lounges 'soon', but in Iberia language this could be weeks, or months.

orbitmic

In fairness, I imagine that the pressure will increase. A mere 10 days ago,Iberia's lack of lounge at MAD was in par with a majority of other airports in Europe, by now, most competitors and partners (AF at CDG, KL at AMS, BA at LHR, etc in addition to LH at FRA which was already operating) are back to standard quality operations. IB is still restoring fewer flights than most but I imagine that lounges, long haul catering, and short haul network will have to be addressed sooner rather than later.

tobsw

The problem remains that IB are just operating a handful of flights, so there's no need to open anything. Once the flight number increases, i'm sure they will open them. It could be mid july, when there's a significant growth in flights, but my "educated guess" is august.

samfrost93

I assume there’s still no update on this?

JessicaB

Well, there is a need to open lounges to give their premium customers the service they paid for. Lounges are a reason that people travel Business. Especially if you are connecting and arrive on an overnight flight, it's great to be able to shower. They haven't reduced their fares, so I cannot see a justification for reducing the customer offer.

tobsw

There´s really no "need" to open lounges, especially in smaller carriers. In fact, 95% of european lounges remain closed, despite "premium or business" travellers. At this point I´m pretty convinced the healines in all airlines is "reduce losses and costs" rather than "increase income and reduce costs".

CaptainSteven

I called and asked. The employee on the phone said lounges reopening in august.

more4less

Welcome to FT CaptainSteven and thanks for the info,

According to the AENA web, the Pau Casals lounge @ Bcn is opening on the 15th/July. Flying on the 14th

northeastflyer

Is this planned to include the Velázquez Lounge T4S?

tobsw

I don't think Aena is planning to open T4S anytime soon, which is the terminal that hosts the IB Velazquez lounge. The plan is to concentrate IBs operation in the T4 building until further notice, where the Dali lounge is.

orbitmic

Indeed, given the state of IB's operations, I can't possibly imagine T4S opening till at least the start of the S21 season. The only exception is if, for some reason, the airport changes its whole concept and decides to regroup all airlines in T4/T4S and close T1 (I wouldn't be surprised if all would fit).

northeastflyer

I'm not familiar with the MAD terminal setup. Is T4 linked to T4S and can BA Gold/oneworld Emerald access the Dali lounge? Is it open?

tobsw

T4S is a separate terminal building, but only accessible from the T4 main building via an automated people mover (the S in T4S stands for "Satellite"). During pre-COVID-19, T4S used to host all oneworld non-schengen flights (plus other non-EU carriers), except IB flights between MAD and LHR.

In the current situation, all oneworld flights (Schengen and non-Schengen) are being operated from the main T4 building.

The IB Dali lounge is in the main T4 building. If the lounge is open whenever you are planning to fly, then yes, based on oneworld lounge access rules, as long as you travel on a oneworld carrier you will be allowed to enter the lounge. Remember though, the Dali lounges is in the Schengen departure area of the terminal.