The T2 is renewed: this will be the integral remodeling of the terminal

BarcelonaAena has announced that it will renovate terminal 2 of Barcelona-El Prat airport from top to bottom. It plans to invest 153 million euros in a set of actions that will not increase the infrastructure's capacity – therefore, in no case is it an expansion – but which, on the other hand, are "just as important as those carried out in pre-Olympic Barcelona," assured the airport director, Eva Valenzuela, this Friday at a press conference.

The public company has guaranteed "the continuity of service" provided by the terminal while the works are underway, which will last until 2031, because it says they are compatible with the airport's daily operations. With this initiative, the objective is to "organize" T2 and make it more efficient: according to Valenzuela, "it will continue to be the same terminal" but "it will be perceived as a completely new terminal".

The second terminal concentrates 35% of the activity of El Prat airport, and last year it transported about 20 million passengers. However, the main infrastructure project for the coming years is the expansion of El Prat, which is highly debated at a social, political, and environmental level. Aena intends to start the works in 2029 and this month it has already awarded the drafting of the master plan, which sets the foundations for the infrastructure and the environmental assessment of the project.

Key actions

The planned actions include the reopening and integration of module A, which is currently only used for arrivals; the recovery of the car park located in front, and the facilitation of the creation of an airport hotel with almost 300 rooms, which has already been awarded. Regarding connectivity, Aena wants to integrate the metro stations and the future R-Airport line into the terminal and improve signage. According to Aena, the reordering of the railway accesses, together with the construction of a new overhang, will "significantly" expand the waiting area before security controls.

In the architectural field, Aena aims to "recover the stylistic unity" of an infrastructure that has been evolving over sixty years. The public company recalled in a statement that "T2 was not conceived as a single building, but as the result of different construction stages", which has led to "a diverse and heterogeneous terminal from an architectural and functional point of view".

Beyond changes to the facades, Aena plans to standardize ceilings and floors and make changes to lighting, furniture, and signage. It also wants to create new rest and work areas. For the exterior, the airport operator has planned "a large green axis" with species native to the Mediterranean.

Four major projects

The different actions that will be part of the terminal's remodeling are divided into four major projects, the first of which is the "adaptation" of the terminal, which has a budget of 53.9 million euros and an estimated duration of 20 months. The rest are the renovation of electromechanical elements (10.7 million), the adaptation of the hold baggage inspection system (20.3 million), and terminal improvement actions (68.1 million).

When asked about the Miró mural, Valenzuela explained that the project is not included in this budget. As she explained, the intention is to move it to T1 and there are currently specialist technicians "analyzing the feasibility of how this transfer should be carried out".