Madrid Airport, or to give it its proper title "Madrid Barajas Airport", has recently completed a huge investment program which now makes it one of the world's leaders.

Barajas airport is made up of four terminals, three of which are physically connected, with Madrid airports showcase Terminal 4 and its midfield satellite being separate. Terminals are allocated as to the destinations being flown:
•Terminal 1 - International flights to NON SCHENGEN *countries not operated by Iberia or Oneworld carriers.
•Terminal 2 - Flights to SCHENGEN * countries not operated by Iberia or Oneworld carriers
•Terminal 3 - Domestic and regional flights not operated by Iberia or Oneworld carriers.
•Terminal 4 - All Iberia and Oneworld flights.

Inside each terminal are all the facilities that you would normally associate with a large airport such as banks, money changers, restaurants, duty free (for those eligible), prayer rooms, etc etc.. Whilst these facilities exist they come with typical airport prices!

On arrival to Madrid airport it is possible to use one of the local cash machines to withdraw local currency instead of having to carry cash or travelers checks. Any Visa or MasterCard works fine. American Express owners will have to check with their issuing bank before using their card at Madrid airport if they haven´t used the card abroad to take out cash before.

With the ever expanding Madrid almost having completely encircled the airport, the transport links to and from the city are excellent. Bordered on all sides by motorways (highways for our US friends) and connected to the metro / subway / underground system by its own station your options are almost limitless.

•Metro A fast and modern train takes you to Nuevos Ministerios in under 14 minutes including a stop at the main business / exhibition center. Located underneath Terminal 2 & in Terminal 4 the station can be reached directly from Terminal1, 2 & 3 just follow the signs "Metro". Using the metro incurs a 1€ supplement for the airport stations in each direction and is payable apart of the standard tickets.

•Bus: Depending on which part of Madrid you need to get to, the bus may be a faster option for those areas the Metro doesn´t cover. These go from all terminals and cover a variety of districts. There is a special 24 hr Airport bus service for which you will have to pay €2 in each direction, however, the normal Red buses are at regular rates.

•Taxi: These are lined up outside each arrivals hall and will gladly take you wherever you need to get to within the city. There is a supplement of just over 4€ for taxis to and from the airport. This supplement will be added to the metered fare. There is no supplement for baggage, although some may try to charge you this...DO NOT accept it and ask for an itemized receipt!

•Transfer service: There are now a number of companies offering private airport transfers at completive prices in their own vehicles. These do not attract the 4€ supplement, however, you may find yourself wasting time looking for your driver in the airport complex. Especially good for large groups of 3 or more people.

Madrid Airport offers a number of different shops selling everything from computer games to traditional Spanish ham. Some items have two prices displayed: one referring to the Duty / Tax paid and the other to the Duty / Tax free price. The price you pay depends on your destination for that particular flight; e.g if you are traveling direct to the USA you pay the Tax free price. If, however, you are going via London you pay Tax paid price. This is controlled via your boarding pass which will be requested at payment.

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 1,400 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, 71 m 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), 4,400 m 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 52 million passengers.