Feb 15, 2016, 2:13 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Connecting at MAD / Madrid Barajas International Airport
FEEL FREE TO EDIT OR ADD TO THIS WIKIPOST
FEEL FREE TO EDIT OR ADD TO THIS WIKIPOST
Madrid airport layout
Terminals include
Terminal 1: International. Star Alliance primarily (also the only non-Schengen area outside of T4)
Terminal 2: Domestic mostly. SkyTeam primarily
Terminal 3: Schengen and some Domestic mostly. Air France/KLM/Lufthansa usually leave from here, but really it's just a slight extension on T2
Terminals 1-2-3 are adjacent and host Star and SkyTeam alliances and are all connected airside.
Terminal 4: one world including Iberia
Domestic and Schengen mostly from Terminal 4
International from Terminal 4-S (satellite) (Except IB or I2 operated flights to UK and Ireland as well as BA CityFlyer flights to LCY that operate out of T4 Main, though note that usually one IB flight to LHR daily is operated by an A330 or A340, these flights go from T4-S).
Both connected by an underground train, though going from T4-S to T4 requires going landside and re-clearing security in order to access T4.
Terminals are connected by a landside shuttle bus service.
Connecting from non-Schengen to Schengen (or departing the airport) one must process immigration in T-4S. Queues can be lengthy at times; if you are an EU citizen, you wil lfind the kiosk to your right in the queues. If you are not, keep to the right of the general queues anyway, as the EU queues can empty and they begin waving non-EU passengers into the EU lines.
The train connecting the T4-S satellite to T4 must be accessed via lifts or stairs; the lifts are faster. A non-Schengen to Schengen connection can take an hour or longer - A 1.5 hours is recommended as minimum connect times, and possibly more for Schengen to non-Schengen if during busy hours due to security procedures, particularly for US flights. Status passengers on Iberia flights to the US have access to a separate priority queue to clear the extra US screening.
Connections to other terminals are by a landside shuttle bus located, and can take rather longer than one might think as T4 is quite far away from T1/2/3. There is a metro link between the two, however you will have to pay full fare and even for a single rider a taxi is pretty competitive on price when the airport supplement is included.
Resources:
Link to Madrid Barajas Airport (World Airport Guides)
Link to AENA official MAD Madrid Barajas website by airport operator AENA
Wikipedia decent article on Madrid Barajas (with listings of airline gates and terminals - BUT caveat - it fails to differentiate between Terminal 4 and Terminal 4-S!)
Schengen Agreements nations information (with maps, etc.)
Connections through Madrid Airport
Nov 5, 2019, 1:46 pm
#586
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 2
Hi everyone,
I am Indonesian, and will go to Medellin through Madrid with these details:
Jakarta - Madrid on Etihad landing at T1
Madrid - Medellin on Avianca at T4S
gap between land and departure = 7 hours
I don’t have an Schengen visa
How reliable is the on-request airside T1 to T4S bus? I don’t mind the 30-40 minute wait I read here, just need to make sure it works.. Is there a guide somewhere as to how this exactly works? Thanks!
I am Indonesian, and will go to Medellin through Madrid with these details:
Jakarta - Madrid on Etihad landing at T1
Madrid - Medellin on Avianca at T4S
gap between land and departure = 7 hours
I don’t have an Schengen visa
How reliable is the on-request airside T1 to T4S bus? I don’t mind the 30-40 minute wait I read here, just need to make sure it works.. Is there a guide somewhere as to how this exactly works? Thanks!
If yes, can someone edit the main post and say that there are airside connections between t1 to t4s? I went through the airside connection on the 15th of August. I have family traveling via Madrid, they lack Schengen visa's as well. I'm getting paranoid if the airside connections are still a thing.
Nov 5, 2019, 3:19 pm
#588
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 13
Nov 6, 2019, 3:05 am
#589
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,958
Glad it worked out. However, if you were 14 mins late (still on-time by airline standards), and you would have had a 10 min wait at immigration, and a 10-min shuttle bus wait, that would've meant arriving at 9:20 AM at the easyJet gate, well within their right to deny you boarding.
Mar 19, 2020, 6:32 pm
#590
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 47
Tried to find a similar sample in the thread but couldn't find it, so appreciate any help here!
Landing December 27th in Madrid at Terminal 1 at 9:25 am. Need to connect to Terminal 4 Iberia with the flight at 11:50 am domestic flight to Granada.
Will 2 hours and 25 minutes be enough to connect from 1 to 4?
Will have bags and both of us are Americans.
- Have option to do business class on the 11:50 am domestic flight if it helps the transfer.
Thank you!
Landing December 27th in Madrid at Terminal 1 at 9:25 am. Need to connect to Terminal 4 Iberia with the flight at 11:50 am domestic flight to Granada.
Will 2 hours and 25 minutes be enough to connect from 1 to 4?
Will have bags and both of us are Americans.
- Have option to do business class on the 11:50 am domestic flight if it helps the transfer.
Thank you!
Mar 20, 2020, 12:20 pm
#591
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: A3*G, UA Gold EY Silver
Posts: 8,958
Tried to find a similar sample in the thread but couldn't find it, so appreciate any help here!
Landing December 27th in Madrid at Terminal 1 at 9:25 am. Need to connect to Terminal 4 Iberia with the flight at 11:50 am domestic flight to Granada.
Will 2 hours and 25 minutes be enough to connect from 1 to 4?
Will have bags and both of us are Americans.
- Have option to do business class on the 11:50 am domestic flight if it helps the transfer.
Thank you!
Landing December 27th in Madrid at Terminal 1 at 9:25 am. Need to connect to Terminal 4 Iberia with the flight at 11:50 am domestic flight to Granada.
Will 2 hours and 25 minutes be enough to connect from 1 to 4?
Will have bags and both of us are Americans.
- Have option to do business class on the 11:50 am domestic flight if it helps the transfer.
Thank you!
Sep 29, 2020, 6:49 am
#592
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 1,115
Hi I need some information please. UK national arriving from SDQ Iberia so terminal 4S and transiting to an Iberia flight to London in the non-Schengen area of 4. The IATA rules say that UK nationals can only enter Spain when arriving from the UK, so I want to check if there is a way to transit from 4S to 4 airside? I have been told there is a bus, can anyone confirm if this is currently running? Or have any UK nationals recently (since September 2020) arrived in Madrid from somewhere other than the UK and has immigration let them in?
Sep 29, 2020, 11:50 am
#595
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,653
Hi I need some information please. UK national arriving from SDQ Iberia so terminal 4S and transiting to an Iberia flight to London in the non-Schengen area of 4. The IATA rules say that UK nationals can only enter Spain when arriving from the UK, so I want to check if there is a way to transit from 4S to 4 airside? I have been told there is a bus, can anyone confirm if this is currently running? Or have any UK nationals recently (since September 2020) arrived in Madrid from somewhere other than the UK and has immigration let them in?
Sep 29, 2020, 12:00 pm
#596
Join Date: Feb 2009
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 1,115
There is an underground train connecting T4 and T4S. The train is airside, that is you need to clear security before getting on the train to go from T4 to T4S, however, T4S has its own passport controls. I have never connected in MAD; when arriving, we had to clear immigration at T4S before boarding the train to T4 to exit the airport. When departing, we passed through security at T4 before boarding the train and then cleared immigration exit control at T4S.
Sep 29, 2020, 12:04 pm
#597
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Sep 29, 2020, 1:09 pm
#598
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Thanks for your reply. I know this is how it normally works, but specifically I want to know... b) if there is a way to transfer airside using a bus instead of the train, someone has told me that there is a bus which you can use between T4S airside and T4 airside which avoids you needing to pass through immigration twice and using the train.
For non-Schengen connecting passengers there is a bus between T1 and T4S which is run when requested, however, there is no bus stop at T4.
Whether that information is current, I have no idea.
Sep 30, 2020, 5:33 pm
#600
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Here's Iberia's transit guide for MAD: https://www.iberia.com/us/fly-with-i...ctions-madrid/
There was an internal/airside connections bus to get already checked-in passengers between terminals T1, T2, T3, T4 and T4S. I usually go landside at MAD if on separate tickets or stick to T4/T4S with the train thingy, so I don't know what's up with that bus.
Something about that bus is still found here: https://www.iberia.com/us/faqs/t4-madrid/
There was an internal/airside connections bus to get already checked-in passengers between terminals T1, T2, T3, T4 and T4S. I usually go landside at MAD if on separate tickets or stick to T4/T4S with the train thingy, so I don't know what's up with that bus.
Something about that bus is still found here: https://www.iberia.com/us/faqs/t4-madrid/