Barcelona airport's Terminal 2 reopens after more than half a year

Barcelona airport's Terminal 2 has reopened on Tuesday morning after being closed for more than half a year. 

The terminal was closed at the end of November 2020 due to a lack of activity at the facility. 

A total of 49 airlines had temporarily moved their operations out of T2 over to T1 for the intervening period, but they are now back in operation in their normal sites. 

Access to the airport is restricted only to those who have tickets or boarding passes, although there are some exceptions for companions of passengers who require special assistance, for minors, and for people who have justified causes.

Restrictions

Travellers coming from most destinations need to provide either proof of a negative PCR test, proof of vaccination completed at least 14 days prior to arrival, or proof of recovery from Covid-19 in order to be allowed into the country.

Likewise, people travelling from Barcelona to many places across the world must provide the same things, depending on the exact criteria required by the country of destination.

On Tuesday, this led to varying experiences for people using Barcelona's Terminal 2 airport.

Catalan News spoke to some passengers coming in and out of the Catalan capital, and most had no issue with obtaining their negative results to enter the country.

One passenger from Brussels actually claimed that no checks on her documents were performed at all upon arrival in Barcelona. She has already received one vaccination dose, but didn't need to provide proof of that. She arrived with her boyfriend to spend some time in the warm weather and go sightseeing.

Another family of three from the Netherlands said they had no problems whatsoever in acquiring a test in their home country and that they felt very safe making the journey to Catalonia. They are here to spend two days visiting the most famous monuments.

However, one person, Ali from Paris, was due to fly back to his home city on Tuesday but was unable to board his flight as the results of his PCR test had not yet been sent to him.

He was in Barcelona for work and had a PCR performed on Sunday, but ended up missing his flight as a result of not having received his results yet.

"I was in front of the desk, waiting on my result, but I couldn't show any documents, so I missed my flight," he explained. "It's very annoying. If there were no restrictions, right now while I'm speaking to you I would be on my flight."

Renovations

Various renovation works had been scheduled to take place in Terminal 2 prior to its closure, but the intervening six-month spell only allowed organizers to accelerate these works. 

Improvements have been made on the luggage transport system, some of the check-in desks, and to the ventilation system, allowing for cleaner and therefore safer air. 

Passenger numbers 

The number of passengers coming through the doors of the airport saw a huge decline in parallel with the pandemic, but has lately begun to pick up again ahead of the summer season. 

May saw 82% fewer passengers use Barcelona airport compared with the same month of 2019, the year that saw record numbers use the facility with a total of 52.6 million.

Indeed, May 2020 saw a 99% drop in passenger numbers compared to the year prior, as the world was just about coming to terms with the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and this means that 18 times more passengers came through the doors when comparing 2020 and 2021.