15.06.2021 - 11:38
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Actualització: 15.06.2021 - 13:38
Barcelona airport’s Terminal 2 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. 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.
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.
Drop in 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.
