Business News
Barcelona airport gets new terminal
Jun 16, 2009, 12:31 GMT
Barcelona - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Tuesday inaugurated a new terminal at Barcelona airport, increasing its capacity from 30 to 55 million passengers annually.
El Prat will become 'one of the big Mediterranean airports,' Catalan regional Prime Minister Jose Montilla said at the inauguration ceremony in Spain's second-largest city.
The airport's second terminal, which is shaped like a bird or airplane, was designed by Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill and built over 10 years.
With the construction of a satellite terminal later on, the number of passengers at El Prat could increase to 70 million, reports said.
The entire extension project is estimated to cost more than 5 billion euros (7 billion dollars).
Critics say much of the air traffic passing through Barcelona consists of low-cost flights, which makes it difficult for El Prat to compete with Madrid's Barajas airport.
Nearly 51 million passengers passed through Barajas in 2008.
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