Madrid-Barajas Airport

Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto-Madrid-Barajas Internacional) (IATA: MAD, ICAO: LEMD) is the main international airport serving Madrid in Spain. In 2010, over 49.8 million passengers used Madrid-Barajas, making it the country's largest and busiest airport, and in 2009 it was the world's 11th busiest airport and Europe's fourth busiest airport. It opened in 1928, and has grown to be one of the most important aviation centres of Europe. Located within the city limits of Madrid, just 9 km (5.6 mi) from the city's financial district and 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of the Puerta del Sol, Madrid's historic centre. The airport name derives from the adjacent district of Barajas, which has its own metro station on the same rail line serving the airport.

The Madrid-Barcelona air shuttle service, known as the "Puente Aéreo" (in Spanish), literally "Air Bridge", is the busiest air route in Europe, with the highest number of flight operations (971 per week) before 2007. The schedule has been reduced since February 2008, when the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line was opened, covering the distance in 2½ hours, and quickly became popular. Barajas serves as the gateway to the Iberian peninsula from the rest of Europe and the world, and is a particularly key link between Europe and Latin America. The airport is the primary hub and maintenance base for Iberia. Consequently, Iberia is responsible for more than 60 percent of Barajas' traffic.

History

The airport was first constructed in 1927, opening to national and international air traffic on 22 April 1931, although regular commercial operations began two years later. A small terminal was constructed with a capacity for 30,000 passengers a year, in addition to several hangars and the building of the Avión Club. The first regular flight was established by Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE) with its line to Barcelona. Later, in the 1930s international flights started to serve some European and African destinations.

Originally, the flight field was a large circle bordered in white with the name of Madrid in its interior, unpaved, consisting of land covered with natural grass. It was not until the 1940s that the flight field was paved and new runways were designed. The first runway which started operation in 1944 was 1400 metres long and 45 metres wide. By the end of the decade the airport had three runways, none of which exists today. In the late 1940s scheduled flights to Latin America and the Philippines started.

In the 1950s the airport supported over half a million passengers, increasing to 5 runways and scheduled flights to New York City began. The National Terminal, currently T2, began construction in 1954, and was inaugurated later that year. In the Plan of Airports of 1957, Barajas Airport is classified as a first-class international airport. By the 1960s large jets were landing at Barajas, and the growth of traffic mainly as a result of tourism exceeded forecasts. At the beginning of the decade, the airport reached the 1.2 million passengers, double that envisaged in the Plan of Airports of 1957.

In the 1970s, with the boom in tourism and the arrival of the Boeing 747, the airport reached 4 million passengers, and began the construction of the international terminal (current T1). In 1974, Iberia, L.A.E. introduced the shuttle service between Madrid and Barcelona, a service with multiple daily frequencies and available without prior reservation.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup brought significant reforms to the airport, with the expansion and reform of the two existing terminals.

In the 1990s the airport expanded further. In 1994, the first cargo terminal was constructed, and the control tower was renovated. In 1997, it opened the North Dock, which is used as an exclusive terminal for Iberia's Schengen flights. In 1998 it inaugurated a new control tower, 71m tall, and then in 1999 the new South Dock opened, which implies an expansion of the international terminal. During this time, the distribution of the terminals changed: The south dock and most of the International Terminal were now called T1, the rest of the International Terminal and Domestic Terminal were now called T2 and the north dock was called T3.

In November 1998, the new runway 18R-36L started operations (replacing the previous 18-36), 4,400m long, one of the largest in Europe under expansion plans called Major Barajas. In 2000 it began the construction of new terminals T4 and its satellite, T4S, designed by architects Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers, and two parallel runways to the existing ones.

The new terminals and runways were completed in 2004, but administrative delays and equipment, as well as the controversy over the redeployment of terminals, delayed service until 5 February 2006.

In 2007, the airport processed more than 50 million passengers.

Barajas today

Terminal 4 houses all Iberia and Vueling flights along with all Oneworld alliance member airlines which include British Airways, American Airlines, LAN Airlines, Finnair, among others. Terminals T1, T2, and T3 handle Air Europa and Spanair, as well as all member airlines of SkyTeam and Star Alliance.

Terminal 4, designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers (winning team of the 2006 Stirling Prize), and TPS Engineers, (winning team of the 2006 IStructE Award for Commercial Structures) was built by Ferrovial and inaugurated on February 5, 2006. Terminal 4 is one of the world's largest airport terminals in terms of area, with 760,000 square meters (8,180,572 square feet) in separate landside and airside structures. It consists of a main building, T4 (470,000 m²), and a satellite building, T4S (290,000 m²), which are approximately 2.5 km apart. The new Terminal 4 is meant to give passengers a stress-free start to their journey. This is managed through careful use of illumination, with glass panes instead of walls, and numerous domes in the roof which allow natural light to pass through. With this new addition, Barajas is designed to handle 70 million passengers annually.

During the construction of Terminal 4, two more runways (15L/33R and 18L/36R) were constructed to aid in the flow of air traffic arriving and departing from Barajas. These runways were officially inaugurated on February 5, 2006 (together with the terminals), but had already been used on several occasions beforehand to test flight and air traffic manoeuvres. Thus, Barajas came to have four runways: two on a north-south axis and parallel to each other (separated by 1.8 km) and two on a northwest-southeast axis (and separated by 2.5 km). This allowed simultaneous takeoffs and landings into the airport, allowing 120 operations an hour (one takeoff or landing every 30 seconds).

Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are adjacent terminals that are home to SkyTeam and Star Alliance airlines, as well as Air Europa. Terminal 4 is home to Iberia, its franchise Air Nostrum and all Oneworld partner airlines. Gate numbers are continuous in terminals 1, 2 and 3 (A1 to E89), but are separately numbered in terminal 4.

Barajas was voted "Best Airport" in the 2008 Condé Nast Traveller Reader Awards

In December 2010, the Spanish government announced plans to tender Madrid-Barajas aiport to companies in the private sector for a period of up to 40 years. 

Terminal 4 check in hall in 2008

Traffic and statistics

Passenger numbers

Passengers Aircraft Movements Cargo (tonnes)

2001 34,050,215 375,558 295,944

2002 33,915,302 368,029 295,711

2003 35,855,861 383,804 307,026

2004 38,718,614 401,503 341,177

2005 42,146,784 415,704 333,138

2006 45,799,983 434,959 325,702

2007 52,110,787 483,292 325,201

2008 50,846,494 469,746 329,187

2009 48,437,147 435,187 302,863

2010 49,863,504 433,683 373,380

Source: Aena Statistics 

Route statistics

Busiest International Routes from Madrid-Barajas (2010)

Rank City Passengers Top Carriers

1 Rome-Fiumicino, Italy 1,268,541 Air Europa, Alitalia, EasyJet, Iberia, Vueling Airlines

2 Lisbon, Portugal 1,167,329 Air Europa, EasyJet, Iberia, Portugalia Airlines, TAP Portugal, Vueling Airlines

3 Paris-Orly, France 1,106,423 Air Europa, Iberia

4 Amsterdam, Netherlands 1,103,658 EasyJet, Iberia, KLM, Korean Air

5 London-Heathrow, United Kingdom 1,089,145 British Airways, Iberia

6 Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France 1,020,860 Air France, EasyJet, LAN Airlines, Vueling Airlines

7 Frankfurt, Germany 903,318 Iberia, LAN Airlines, Lufthansa, Spanair

8 Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Argentina 857,645 Aerolineas Argentinas, Air Europa, Iberia

9 New York-JFK, United States 709,747 Air Europa, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Iberia

10 Milan-Malpensa, Italy 628,570 EasyJet, Iberia, Lufthansa

11 Munich, Germany 628,517 Iberia, Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine

12 London-Gatwick, United Kingdom 601,995 Air Europa, EasyJet, Ryanair

13 Brussels, Belgium 563,674 Brussels Airlines, Iberia

14 Mexico City, Mexico 519,999 Aeroméxico, Iberia

15 Lima, Peru 507,535 Air Europa, Iberia, LAN Perú

16 São Paulo-Guarulhos, Brazil 494,359 Air China, Iberia, TAM Airlines

17 Zürich, Switzerland 488,450 Iberia, Swiss International Air Lines

18 Venice-Marco Polo, Italy 478,889 Air Europa, Iberia, Vueling

19 Bogotá, Colombia 453,364 Avianca, Iberia

20 Geneva, Switzerland 427,110 EasyJet Switzerland, Iberia, Uzbekistan Airways

21 Porto, Portugal 410,587 Air Nostrum, Portugalia Airlines, Ryanair

22 Miami, United States 407,468 Air Europa, American Airlines, Iberia

23 Havana, Cuba 393,706 Air Europa, Cubana de Aviación, Iberia, Iberworld

24 Caracas, Venezuela 385,913 Air Europa, Conviasa, Iberia, Santa Bárbara Airlines

25 Athens, Greece 376,853 Aegean Airlines, Air Europa, Iberia

26 Santiago de Chile, Chile 351,379 Iberia, LAN Airlines

27 Dublin, Ireland 330,775 Aer Lingus, Iberia, Ryanair

28 Istanbul-Atatürk, Turkey 318,903 Iberia, Turkish Airlines

29 Cancún, Mexico 311,917 Air Europa

30 Beijing, China 311,792 Air China

Busiest Domestic Routes from Madrid-Barajas (2010)

Rank City Passengers Top Carriers

1 Barcelona, Catalonia 3,106,678 Air Europa, Iberia, Spanair, Vueling Airlines

2 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands 1,694,854 Air Berlin, Air Europa, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

3 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands 1,561,475 Air Europa, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

4 Tenerife-North, Canary Islands 1,316,014 Air Europa, Iberia, Spanair

5 Valencia, Valencian Community 1,023,681 Air Nostrum, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

6 Alicante, Valencian Community 884,006 Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

7 Bilbao, Basque Country 837,966 Iberia, Spanair

8 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia 836,415 Air Europa, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

9 Vigo, Galicia 663,285 Air Europa, Iberia

10 Malaga, Andalusia 618,505 Iberia, Spanair

11 Ibiza, Balearic Islands 611,481 Air Europa, Air Nostrum, EasyJet, Spanair, Vueling Airlines

12 A Coruña, Galicia 609,758 Iberia, Spanair

13 Lanzarote, Canary Islands 581,010 Air Europa, EasyJet, Iberia, Iberworld, Ryanair, Spanair

14 Asturias, Principality of Asturias 560,267 Air Europa, Iberia

15 Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia 449,107 Iberia, Ryanair

16 Tenerife-South, Canary Islands 403,938 Air Europa, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair

17 Seville, Andalusia 385,115 Iberia

18 Santander, Cantabria 370,696 Air Nostrum, Ryanair

19 Fuerteventura, Canary Islands 366,229 Air Europa, EasyJet, Iberia, Iberworld, Spanair

20 Granada, Andalusia 335,437 Iberia

Terminals, airlines and destinations

A Germanwings Airbus A319-100 parked at a gate

Note: † denotes charter flights and their destinations

Airlines Destinations Terminal

Aegean Airlines Athens 2

Aer Lingus Dublin, Washington-Dulles 1

Aeroflot Moscow-Sheremetyevo 1

Aerolíneas Argentinas Buenos Aires-Ezeiza 1

Aeroméxico Mexico City 1

Aerosur Santa Cruz de la Sierra 1

Air Algérie Algiers 4

Air Berlin Palma de Mallorca 2

Air Canada Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson 1

Air China Beijing-Capital, São Paulo-Guarulhos 1

Air Europa Arrecife, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancun, Caracas, Dakar, Havana, Lima, London-Gatwick, Marrakech, Mexico City [begins 2 June], Miami, New York–JFK, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, Tunis

Seasonal: Montego Bay 1

Air Europa Asturias, Athens, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Lisbon, Minorca, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela, Tenerife-North, Tenerife-South, Venice, Vigo 2

Air France Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2

Air Moldova Chisinau 1

Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson 1

AirBaltic Seasonal: Riga 2

Alitalia Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino 2

American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York–JFK 4

Armavia Yerevan [begins 31 March] 1

Avianca Bogotá, Cali, Medellín 4

Blue Air Bucharest-Băneasa, Sibiu 1

British Airways London-Heathrow 4

British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer London-City 4

Brussels Airlines Brussels 2

Bulgaria Air Sofia 4

Continental Airlines Newark 1

Conviasa Caracas 1

Cubana de Aviación Havana, Santiago de Cuba 1

Czech Airlines Prague 4

Delta Air Lines Atlanta, New York–JFK 1

EasyJet Amsterdam, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Bristol, Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Casablanca, Edinburgh, Ibiza, Lanzarote [resumes 24 June], Lisbon, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, Lyon, Marrakech, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, Tangier, Toulouse, Venice 1

EasyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva 1

EgyptAir Cairo 1

El Al Tel Aviv 4

Emirates Dubai 4

Finnair Helsinki 4

Germanwings Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart [all end 25 March] 1

Iberia A Coruña, Algiers, Alicante, Amsterdam, Asturias, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Bilbao, Bogotá, Bologna, Boston, Brussels, Bucharest-Otopeni (resumes 20 July), Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cairo, Caracas, Casablanca, Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen, Córdoba, Dakar, Düsseldorf, Fortaleza, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura [ends 15 April], Geneva, Granada, Gran Canaria, Guatemala City, Guayaquil, Havana, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jerez de la Frontera, Johannesburg, La Palma, Lagos, Lanzarote [ends 15 April], Lima, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles [resumes 28 March][10], Luanda [starts September], Malabo, Malaga, Marrakech, Mexico City, Miami, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Montevideo, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, New York–JFK, Oran, Palma de Mallorca [ends 15 April], Pamplona [ends 31 March], Panama City, Paris-Orly, Prague, Quito, Recife, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rome-Fiumicino, San José de Costa Rica, San Juan, San Salvador, San Sebastián [ends 31 March], Santiago de Chile, Santiago de Compostela, Santo Domingo, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seville, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tangier, Tel Aviv, Tenerife-North, Tenerife-South, Valencia [ends 31 March], Venice, Vienna, Vigo, Zürich

Seasonal: Damascus, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Saint Petersburg, Zagreb 4

Iberia operated by Air Nostrum Almería, Badajoz, Bologna, Bordeaux, Dublin [starts 1 May], Düsseldorf, Genoa, Granada [starts 1 April], Ibiza [starts 1 April], La Palma [starts 21 July], Leon, Lisboa [ends 31 March], Logroño, Lyon, Marseille, Marrakech, Melilla, Milan-Malpensa [starts 1 April], Minorca, Montpellier, Munich [begins 1 April], Murcia, Nantes, Naples, Nice, Paris-Orly [starts 1 April], Pamplona [starts 1 April], Pisa, Porto, San Sebastián [starts 1 April], Santander, Strasbourg, Tangier, Toulouse, Turin, Valencia, Vitoria

Seasonal: A Coruña, Asturias, Catania, Corfu, Malta, Olbia 4

Iberworld † Aswan, Cozumel, Fuerteventura, Luxor, Punta Cana, Salvador da Bahía, Tangier [begins 23 March] 1

Icelandair Seasonal: Reykjavik-Keflavik 1

KLM Amsterdam 2

Korean Air Amsterdam, Seoul-Incheon 1

LAN Airlines Frankfurt, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Santiago de Chile 4

LAN Ecuador Guayaquil, Quito 4

LAN Perú Lima 4

Libyan Airlines Tripoli 1

LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw 2

Lufthansa Frankfurt, Milan-Malpensa, Munich 2

Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich 2

Luxair Luxembourg 4

Malév Hungarian Airlines Budapest 4

Meridiana Fly Florence 4

Mint Airways Cairo 1

Niki Vienna [begins 28 March] 1

Qatar Airways Doha 1

Royal Air Maroc Casablanca, Marrakech 4

Royal Jordanian Amman 4

Ryanair Alghero, Alicante, Almería, Ancona, Bari, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Brussels South-Charleroi, Cagliari, Dublin, Eindhoven, Faro, Fez, Girona [ends 3 May], Hahn, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Krakow, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Malta, Manchester [begins 13 April], Marrakech, Marseille, Moss-Rygge, Nador, Oujda, Palma de Mallorca, Pisa, Porto, Rome-Ciampino, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Stockholm-Skavsta, Tangier, Tenerife-South, Trapani, Turin, Valencia [ends 26 March], Verona, Weeze 1

S7 Airlines Moscow-Domodedovo 4

Sata Internacional Seasonal: Ponta Delgada, Terceira 1

Santa Bárbara Airlines Caracas 1

Saudi Arabian Airlines Jeddah, Riyadh 1

SAS Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen

Seasonal: Oslo-Gardermoen, Bergen 2

Spanair A Coruña, Alicante, Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Málaga, Minorca, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Stockholm-Arlanda [begins 2 July], Tenerife-North, Valencia, Vigo

Seasonal: Belgrade 2

Swiss International Air Lines Geneva, Zürich 2

Syrian Air Damascus 4

TACV Sal 1

TAM Airlines São Paulo-Guarulhos 1

TAP Portugal Funchal, Lisbon 2

TAP operated by Portugalia Airlines Lisbon, Porto 2

TAROM Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Cluj-Napoca [ends 27 March] 4

Thai Airways International Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi 1

Transavia Rotterdam 1

Travel Service Budapest, Prague 2

Tunisair Tozeur, Tunis 1

Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk 1

Ukraine International Airlines Kiev-Boryspil, Lviv 4

US Airways Philadelphia

Seasonal: Charlotte [begins 14 May] 1

Uzbekistan Airways Geneva, Tashkent 4

Vueling Alicante [starts 1 April], Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Barcelona, Fuerteventura [starts 16 April], Ibiza, Lanzarote [starts 16 April], Lisbon, Malaga [starts 1 April], Malta, Minorca, Palma de Mallorca [starts 1 April], Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, Venice, Warsaw 4

Wizz Air Bucharest-Băneasa, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Katowice, Prague, Sofia, Târgu Mureş [begins 19 June], Timişoara

Seasonal: Warsaw 1

Cargo airlines

Airlines Destinations

DHL Aviation Beijing-Capital, Copenhagen, Miami

FedEx Feeder operated by Air Contractors Dublin, Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Flyant

Gestair Cargo Maastricht/Aachen

TNT Airways Brussels

Turkish Airlines Cargo Istanbul-Ataturk

UPS Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, London-Stansted

Ground transport

Rail

The Madrid Metro Line connects the airport with Madrid’s city centre station Nuevos Ministerios in the heart of Madrid’s financial district. The Barajas Line 8 provides a fast route from the underground stations at Terminal 2 (access to T1 and T3) and Terminal 4 into central Madrid. The metro also provides links to stations on the Spanish railway network. The first ride in the morning leaves from Nuevos Ministerios around 6:05 am, arriving at Terminals 1-2-3 around 6:30, and at Terminal 4 around 6:40.

The Nuevos Ministerios metro station allowed checking-in right by the AZCA business area in central Madrid, but this convenience has been suspended indefinitely after the building of Terminal 4. In October 2006 a bid was launched for the construction of a Cercanías link between Chamartín Station and Terminal 4. When finished in 2009, a single Cercanías Line will link Madrid Barajas Terminal 4, with Chamartín Station and Atocha AVE high-speed train stations.

EMT Bus

EMT (Madrid Municipal Transport Company) runs regular public bus services between the airport and Madrid (Avenida de América station): bus 200 runs as a complete line - dropping passengers off at departures of terminals 1, 2 and 4 before collecting passengers in the reverse order at arrivals EMT also have an express bus linking Barajas airport to Renfe's Atocha Station; the main rail station in Madrid. The EMT public night bus service N4 (nicknamed "Buho", Owl) also services from Madrid downtown (Plaza Cibeles) to Barajas (Plaza de los Hermanos Falcó y Alvarez de Toledo, 400m from the airport through a passageway above the highway).

Airport parking

Long- and short-term car parking is provided at the airport with seven public parking areas. P1 is an outdoor car park located in front of the terminal building; P2 is an indoor car park with direct access to terminals T2 and T3. A Parking 'Express' facility, available for short periods only, is located at Terminal 2, and dedicated long-term parking is also available with 1,655 spaces; a free shuttle operates between the long-stay car park and all terminals. There are also VIP car parks.

Accidents and incidents

On 30 September 1972, Douglas C-47B EC-AQE of Spantax crashed on take-off. The aircraft was being used for training duties and the student pilot over-rotated and stalled. One of the six people on board were killed.

On 27 November 1983, Avianca Flight 011 crashed while attempting to land. Flight 011 struck a series of hills, causing the plane's right wing to break off. The 747 then cartwheeled, shattering into five pieces before coming to rest upside-down. Only 11 of the 169 passengers survived - there were no survivors among the 23 crew.

On 7 December 1983, Iberia 727 Flight 350  collided during takeoff with Aviaco DC9 Flight 134.  The Aviaco DC9 had accidentally entered the runway as the Iberia flight was taking off. 135 people were killed, including 93 from the Iberia and 42 from the Aviaco.

On 15 July 2006 - The winglet of a Thai Airways International Boeing 747-400 HS-TGY operating flight TG943 from Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain to Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport cut off the tail of an Air France ERJ-145 while taxing to the runway for take-off. No injuries were reported.

On the morning of 30 December 2006, an explosion took place in the carpark building module D attached to Terminal 4. A bomb threat was phoned in at approximately 8:15 local time (7:15 GMT), with the caller stating that a car bomb carried with 800 kg of explosive would explode at 9:00 local time (8:00 GMT). After receipt of the warning, police were able to evacuate part of the airport. Later, an anonymous caller stated that ETA claims responsibility for the bombing. As a result of the explosion, two Ecuadorians who were sleeping in their cars died. The whole module D of the car park was levelled to the ground, around 40,000 tonnes of debris. It took six days to recover the body of the second victim from the rubble.

2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing

On 20 August 2008, Spanair Flight JKK 5022 which was travelling to Gran Canaria, veered off to the right and into the ground while climbing immediately after lifting off from runway 36L at 14:45 local time. The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) MD-82 with registration "EC-HFP", was carrying 172 people, including 162 passengers. In the accident 154 people were killed, 2 were seriously injured and 12 were slightly injured. Prime Minister Zapatero ordered 3 days of national mourning.

Spanair Flight 5022

On 3 December 2010, during the Spanish air traffic controllers strike, Madrid-Barajas Airport remained unoperative when all spanish air traffic controllers walked out in a coordinated wildcat strike. Following the walkout, the Spanish Government authorized the Spanish military to take over air traffic control operations. On the morning of December 4, the government declared a 'State of Alert', ordering on the controllers back to work. Shortly after the measure was implemented, controllers started returning to work and the strike was called off.

(source:wikipedia)