SHARE
COPY LINK

TRAVEL NEWS

Is Madrid-Barajas really the ‘worst airport in the world’?

Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas is the worst airport in the world. At least that's according to a recent article by a Financial Times’ journalist. Is there any reason to agree?

Is Madrid-Barajas really the 'worst airport in the world'?
Is Madrid the worst airport in the world? Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

Most of us have had bad airport experiences, whether we’ve missed a connecting flight, our luggage has gone missing or we’ve been held up in security so long that we hear our names being called out for final boarding. 

But, would your bad experiences lead you to dub that particular airport the worst in the world?

This is what happened to Financial Times’ HTSI editor Jo Ellison who criticised the distances between the terminals and the fact that all of the walkways seemed to steer passengers through duty-free shops on the way to their gates. 

However, she wrote in her article that what ultimately led her to call it the worst airport in the world was the complete lack of signage, “in any language, not even in Spanish”. This in turn led to a lot of confusion about where she had to go, causing her in the end to miss her connecting flight. 

She wrote: “Sprinting for 40 minutes on disembarkation, through arrivals, along travellators, via a giant car park, to a bus, on a highway to another terminal and a new set of departures, on a further connecting train, through the duty-free shop and down an interminable corridor to discover that I had, sadly, and by two minutes, missed my next connection, I came to this conclusion. Madrid-Barajas is the Worst Airport in the World”. 

But does the Spanish capital’s airport really deserve such criticism and is it really fair to be given the title of the worst in the world?

In December, we published a piece saying that Madrid’s airport was in fact ranked best in Spain and Europe in 2022, a complete contrast to the FT’s piece. 

This was based on two different airport awards – the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022 and the airport ranking by claims management company AirHelp, both of which looked at the overall quality of international airports, from the staff to the ease of getting around to the facilities.

The annual AirHelp 2022 ranking revealed that Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas was the best in Europe and the 12th best in the world, receiving a total of 8.25 points out of 10. 

It particularly scored highly for punctuality, and customer satisfaction, as well as leisure spaces, shops and restaurants. Even though airport signage and distance between terminals were not specifically ranked, most customers were satisfied with their experiences at the airport with a customer satisfaction score of 8.19 out of 10. 

This is far behind the airport that came in last place at number 151 – Toronto Pearson International Airport with an overall score of 6.11.

In the other awards – Skytrax Top 100 Airports for 2022, voted for by air travellers in the 2021/2022 World Airport Survey, Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas came in at number 16 in the world.

The survey asked users for their opinion on the world’s best airport including factors such as public transport serving the airport, taxi prices from the airport, Covid-19 protocols, signage in the airport, walking distance to arrivals, service of the staff, cleanliness, wi-fi availability and waiting times for immigration among others.

Again this was well ahead of the worst airport on the list at number 100, which was Palma de Mallorca.

With two major awards under its belt, based on stats and passenger satisfaction, as well as particular issues that caused the journalist grievances such as signage, can the Spanish capital’s airport really be called the worst airport in the world?

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas is the top airport in Spain, for passenger traffic, transport of goods and operations. It occupies the 5th position in the ranking of European airports according to Eurostat agency data, and is the fifteenth in the world by passenger traffic, according to ACI agency statistics.

In 2022, the airport welcomed a total of 50,633,652 passengers, making it the busiest airport in Spain, ahead of Barcelona El-Prat with 41.6 million passengers and Palma de Mallorca, with 28,573,364.

Share your own views and experiences of Madrid-Barajas airport in this quick survey. To see instant results CLICK HERE.

 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Which flights will be affected by Spain’s airport strikes over Easter?

If you've got a flight booked to or from Valencia or Madrid-Barajas airport over Easter, industrial action by staff could delay your journey or even lead to it being cancelled.

Which flights will be affected by Spain's airport strikes over Easter?

Airport staff in Valencia and Madrid are going on strike over key Easter dates, meaning that as many as a thousand flights could be delayed or cancelled during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Semana Santa celebrations have already been disrupted by rain this year, causing the cancellation of processions across the country, but travel during the busy Easter period is also set to be affected by strike action at two of Spain’s major airports.

At Valencia Manises airport, one of the busiest airports in Spain which welcomed almost 10 million passengers in 2023, flights could be affected over the entire Easter weekend (Thursday March 28th-Monday April 1st inclusive) because workers will walk out between 11am-13am on each day.

At Madrid-Barajas airport, the UGT union has called a strike for Wednesday 27th and Friday 29th March between 7am-12pm.

READ ALSO: Spain’s Valencia set for airport strike over Easter holidays

The walkout at Valencia begins today, March 28th. According to the live departures board provided by Aena, Spain’s national airport operator, which you can follow here, as of 9.30am flights are leaving the airport with minor delays of up to 40 minutes, though this is before the strike officially begins at 11am.

Aena live departures for Madrid-Barajas show that some flights have left with delays of up to 45 minutes this morning, though it is worth noting that staff are not officially on strike there today (walkouts in Madrid are Wednesday 27th and Friday 29th March between 7am-12pm) which could suggest a knock-on effect from yesterday’s strike action.

The industrial action comes during not only during Easter celebrations but operación salida, an intensely busy travel period during which millions of Spaniards travel home or go on holiday for Semana Santa.

READ ALSO: Strike action at Spanish airports set to disrupt Easter travel

Staff at Madrid-Barajas are striking for better pay and a new collective bargaining agreement, arguing their salaries have declined in real terms due to inflation, and employees at Valencia Manises are protesting against long working hours and a lack of staff, plus a dispute with regards to overtime pay.

Spanish media reports suggest that up to 1000 flights could be cancelled as a result of the walkouts. On Wednesday 27th, there was also ‘chaos’ at Palma de Mallorca airport, according to Spanish media, with long queues at security controls meaning it took many passengers an hour to get to their departure gate.

Which flights will be affected by Spain’s airport strikes over Easter?

Knowing exactly which flights could be affected, however, isn’t entirely clear. There seems to be certain airlines and routes more likely to be affected than others.

Madrid-Barajas

It is still unclear exactly which flights could be affected at Madrid-Barajas, so it is advisable to check with your airline. You can check the airport schedule on the Aena website here.

On Wednesday 27th March, the day the strike began in Madrid, both short and long-haul flights were delayed or cancelled.

Departure records from Flight Stats show that long-haul flights to the United States were cancelled throughout the day, and short-haul flights around Europe and to other Spanish cities were running with delays of up to 2 hours. Many also arrived on schedule, however.

Valencia Manises

As the strike action begins in Valencia on Thursday morning, reports suggest that several dozen flights could be cancelled, delayed or rescheduled. If you are uncertain about your flight, check with your airline.

On Thursday 28th, flights that could be affected by the stoppage include:

  • Ryanair flights connecting Valencia with Rome, Milan Bologna, Breslavia and Sofia 
  • United and Lufthansa flights connecting Valencia with Frankfurt and Munich
  • Easyjet and British Airways flights between Valencia and London
  • Turkish Airlines flights between Valencia and Istanbul
  • Air Europa flights between Valencia and Palma de Mallorca
  • Swiss flights connecting Valencia to Zurich
  • Volotea flights between Valencia and A Coruña
  • Eurowings’ Valencia-Stuttgart flights

On Friday 29th, flights that could be cancelled are:

  • Ryanair to Milan, Treviso, Trieste, Dublin, Marrakech and Palma de Mallorca
  • SAP and Tap Portugal flights between Valencia and Lisbon
  • United to Frankfurt
  • Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Munich
  • Austrian to Vienna
  • Air Nostrum to Ibiza
  • Delta to París Charles de Gaulle
  • Air France to París Charles de Gaulle
  • Air Europa to Palma de Mallorca
  • Easyjet to London
  • British Airways to London
  • Brussels Airlines to Brussels
  • Iberia to Tenerife North
  • Tap Portugal to Lisbon
  • Turkish Airlines to Istanbul
  • Swiss to Zúrich
  • Volotea to A Coruña, San Sebastián
  • Vueling to Tenerife North
  • Eurowings to Stuttgart

There is no further information yet about which flights could be affected on Saturday 30th, Sunday 31st and Monday April 1st.

SHOW COMMENTS