Nighttime landings at Barcelona airport will be shorter

El Prat de LlobregatAt an airport like Barcelona's, which is heading towards a new annual passenger record, any increase is a plus. Waiting to see if... gets ahead With the expansion project, El Prat is preparing to make operations more efficient, operations that will become increasingly complex as millions of passengers continue to be added year after year. This year alone, 2025, is expected to see a significant increase in passenger numbers. expects to close above 58 million travelers, compared to 55 million last year, which was the first time that It was overcome the theoretical capacity limit of the infrastructure.

In this context, Aena will build a rapid exit ramp for the cross runway, used primarily for night landings, as ARA has learned. Barcelona Airport, managed by Eva Valenzuela, operates with both parallel runways during the day, offering greater capacity. However, at night, when activity decreases, it uses the cross runway for arrivals to minimize noise over neighboring towns such as Gavà and Castelldefels, weather and wind permitting. It is at this time that a long journey ensues after landing. Planes land and begin a slow taxi to the terminal, often further increasing passenger waits with a bus that lengthens the journey, rather than providing the desired rapid exit ramps. finger.

This is the situation the airport operator aims to improve with the construction of a new exit from the cross runway. This new exit will be faster and more comfortable for passengers, while also allowing airlines to use less fuel. It will be located just after the cross runway intersects the long runway. It will also be much closer to the taxiways leading to Terminal 1 (T1), where Vueling's aircraft are based. Vueling is the airline with the most planes at the airport and the one that flies most frequently to Barcelona at night. This will eliminate the need to maneuver aircraft almost to the end of the cross runway, as is currently the case. This area is much farther from T1, and pilots must make sharper turns there, further reducing speed and taking longer. "The project aims to improve operational safety and corporate and environmental efficiency. While it does not increase the airport's capacity, it does offer operational and environmental benefits," explained the company, headed by Mauricio Lucena. Besides shorter and more comfortable taxiing times for passengers, the new rapid exit will also reduce emissions and noise from aircraft landings because they will require fewer maneuvers on the runway.

This will also reduce aircraft waiting times in the air because the cross-runway will be cleared sooner. Regulations stipulate that no aircraft can enter a runway until it is completely clear, and with this new exit, aircraft on the cross-runway will depart sooner, allowing subsequent aircraft to land earlier as well. This will improve punctuality and efficiency. Although nighttime is not the airport's main bottleneck, Aena's plans will improve its operations. This is especially important during peak times like summer, when airlines schedule as many flights as possible to meet demand, leading to delays that accumulate until 11 p.m., when operations begin using the cross-runway for landings.

In an infrastructure where there are periods of saturation – especially at 7:00 AM throughout the year and between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM in July and August – airlines are increasing their capacity in other time slots to continue growing, but also in periods beyond the summer. This is one of the reasons for the growth recorded at El Prat Airport despite having exceeded its technical maximum of 55 million passengers.

Disruptions due to construction

The budget for the works will be around 3.1 million euros, a large part of which will be included The construction of this rapid exit ramp is included in the upcoming DORA III, the document that will regulate the airport sector for the period 2027-2031 and will have a total budget of €13 billion. This ramp is not part of the El Prat airport expansion project, and Aena sources indicate that it is "a project that would also have to be carried out even without the expansion," in line with the work to renovate terminals T1 and T2. "These are necessary actions for the expansion, which complement it, but they do not add any more operations per hour," the same sources emphasize.

Construction of this new exit will begin in November 2026. It will last just over a year, but the main disruption will occur during the first month. "This will involve a limited reduction in airport capacity during this phase of construction, which is why there is a prior information process for airlines and the relevant authorities." slots "This is so that they can adjust the schedule to the airport's actual capacity. Planning is done in advance to minimize disruptions and reach an agreement with the airlines to ensure the impact is minimal," explained the airport operator.

Specifically, during the month of November next year, in the off-season, operations will have to be carried out with only one runway for ten consecutive days, which will mean the elimination of 1,400 slotsAs work will be carried out on the cross runway, which connects to the long runway, the airport will only be able to perform takeoffs and landings from the short runway, the one closest to the sea. This means that, during these ten days, larger aircraft, those operating intercontinental flights, will not be able to take off as usual, and approximately forty aircraft will have to reduce their cargo load to be able to do so. During the remaining phases of the works, the operational impact will be much less significant, and no impact on the infrastructure's capacity is anticipated. Only one other period of greater disruption is planned, not yet specified in the schedule, with the closure of the cross runway for sixteen hours a day over twelve days.