Special assistance at Barcelona Airport: Barrier Free service, call points and your rights

What do you need?

Barrier Free assistance: what it is and who can ask for it

Aena, which runs Barcelona-El Prat, provides a help service for passengers with reduced mobility at every one of its airports. In Spanish it is called Asistencia Sin Barreras; in English, Barrier Free. It costs nothing, because EU Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 gives disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility a right to free help when they depart from, arrive at or pass through an EU airport.

You qualify if your mobility is limited by a disability, physical or mental, sensory or locomotor, permanent or temporary, by age, or by any other condition that needs special attention. A broken leg in plaster counts; so does a sight or hearing impairment, a learning disability or simply finding long distances hard at 85. You do not need to own a wheelchair.

Assistants guide and carry, but they are not carers. They do not supervise anyone, so children travelling alone and passengers who cannot look after themselves, for example someone with Alzheimer's, must travel with a companion.

How to request it: the airline and Aena, 48 hours ahead

Make the request at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure. First, tell the airline or travel agent when you book: the airline has to pass the request to the airport. Then register it with Aena directly, so a missed hand-over does not leave you waiting at the kerb:

• on Aena's website, through the Barrier Free form;
• in the Aena app;
• by phone on +34 913 211 000, from 07:00 to 00:00;
• by email to [email protected].

The phone line is Aena's national number, shared by all its airports, so say that you fly from or to Barcelona-El Prat and give your flight number, date and terminal.

Describe what you can and cannot do, using the codes airlines understand. WCHR means you can walk short distances and climb steps but need a wheelchair for longer stretches; WCHS means you cannot manage steps; WCHC means you cannot move on your own and need help to your seat. Mention your own wheelchair or scooter, an assistance dog, a sight or hearing impairment and which call point you will start from.

On the day: when to arrive and how to call staff

Aena asks Barrier Free passengers to reach the airport 2 hours 30 minutes before departure and to be at the agreed meeting point at least 2 hours before, earlier if the airline says so. That is longer than the margin for other passengers, because the assistant has to fit your check-in, the security checkpoint and the walk to the gate into a schedule shared with other passengers.

To announce yourself, press the button on one of the call points, the information columns with an intercom listed below, and wait there; staff come to collect you. You can also report to your airline's check-in desk. If the point you planned to use does not answer or is out of service, go to the nearest working one or use any intercom.

Check your terminal before you set off. T1 and T2 are about 4 km apart by road, and Aena allocates airlines to terminals, not destinations: Vueling, Iberia and most long-haul airlines use T1, while T2B is mainly Ryanair and Transavia and T2C mainly easyJet. If you end up at the wrong one, use the call point where you are and tell the assistant.

The 17 call points in T1, T2, the car parks and the station

There are 17 numbered call points where you can start the service: inside both terminals, on the forecourts, in the surface car parks and at the railway station. Two are out of service at present, both at T2C.

Pick the point that matches how you arrive. Coming on the Metro to Aeroport T1, No. 18 is on Floor 0, where the Metro arrives; by bus or Aerobús at T1, No. 17 stands by the central bus rank on the arrivals road. Passengers of the Barcelona–Madrid air shuttle have Nos. 14 and 15 on T1 Floor 1. On the Rodalies train, No. 12 is at the Aeroport station, which serves T2 only. Drivers have points in car park G at T1 and car parks No. 4 and No. 7 at T2B.

These call points are not the general meeting points where friends wait for arriving passengers; those are in the arrivals halls on T1 Floor 1 and T2B Floor 0. The list changes from time to time, so check it on Aena's website before you travel.

Departure: check-in, security, passport control and boarding

Once the assistant reaches you, they help with your luggage where needed and go with you to check-in. In T1 the desks are on Floor 3, in the North and South docks; in T2 they are on Floor 0 of T2B or T2C, as T2A is not used for departures at present (check your boarding pass).

The assistant then takes you through security, at the central checkpoint on T1 Floor 3 or the T2B or T2C checkpoint on Floor 1, without a separate ticket: you do not need to buy Fast Track or Fast Lane. On a flight outside the Schengen area you also pass passport control with them, towards gates D and E in T1 or W, Y and M in T2. Medicines you need on board, liquid ones included, may go over 100 ml if you carry the prescription and declare them at the checkpoint.

At the gate, staff help you board and, depending on what you need, take you to your seat. Barcelona uses both jet bridges and remote stands reached by bus. If you cannot climb aircraft steps, put it in your Aena request and tell your airline when you book, so that boarding without steps can be arranged.

Arrival: off the plane, through baggage reclaim and out

Stay in your seat when the aircraft reaches the stand and wait there to be collected. Staff help you off, take you through passport control if you come from outside the Schengen area and on to baggage reclaim, where they help with your bags if needed.

Reclaim is in the Sky Center hall on T1 Floor 1, or at Carousel 00 for the Barcelona–Madrid air shuttle; in T2, halls A, B and C on Floor 0 split the flights by airline and origin. After customs, the assistant takes you to the meeting point you chose: the arrivals hall where someone waits for you, the taxi rank, the Metro, a car park or the station.

If a wheelchair checked in the hold comes back damaged, report it before you leave the reclaim hall at the baggage desk of your airline or its handling agent and ask for a Property Irregularity Report. The airline is responsible for it, not Aena.

Connecting flights, and changing between T1 and T2

On a connection the assistant meets you at the aircraft, guides you through the terminal and any security or passport check, and takes you to your next gate, helping with boarding at both ends. Within one terminal this may mean the connections security checkpoint, on T1 Floor 2 or T2 Floor 1, and passport control between Schengen and non-Schengen flights.

Between T1 and T2 there is no link on the airside. Staff take you out of the first terminal and across on Aena's free shuttle bus, which runs 24 hours: about 10 minutes from T1 to T2B or T2C and about 14 minutes back, plus the wait. At the second terminal you go through security again; if your bags are not checked through, you may also have to collect and check them in again, so confirm with your airline. Allow at least an extra hour on top of your airline's minimum connecting time, and mention the change of terminal in your request.

Inside T2, T2A to T2B is about 2 minutes on foot and T2B to T2C about 5, or 1 minute on the shuttle.

Hidden disabilities, and deaf or hard-of-hearing passengers

Barcelona-El Prat takes part in Aena's programme for invisible disabilities. If you have a condition others cannot see, such as autism, dementia, anxiety, a chronic illness or a hearing loss, you can wear Aena's hidden-disabilities badge so that staff at check-in, security and the gate know discreetly that you may need more time, clear instructions or a quieter approach. The badge helps on the day; it does not book anything, so make a Barrier Free request as well if you need an assistant.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers can also reach Aena on WhatsApp instead of by phone: the contact is given on Aena's Barrier Free page, or ask for it at [email protected]. If you would rather avoid crowds, say so in your request and ask the assistant on the day.

Your own wheelchair, mobility scooter, batteries and assistance dogs

Airlines decide whether and how they carry mobility equipment, and some limit powered wheelchairs and scooters. Tell your airline in advance about the make, the weight, the dimensions and the battery type, and ask whether you can stay in your own chair to the aircraft door.

A lithium-powered chair or scooter can fly in the hold or the cabin once the airline knows about it. Where the chair leaves its battery exposed, you take the battery out (300 Wh at most), wrap it so it cannot be damaged or short-circuit and keep it with you in the cabin. A spare is allowed too: one battery up to 300 Wh, or two up to 160 Wh each. Crutches and walking sticks you need are allowed through security.

Recognised assistance and guide dogs may travel with you, but each airline sets its own conditions and your destination may require documents, so notify the airline when you book.

Accessible toilets, lounges, parking spaces and medical help

Aena Maps in the Aena app routes you to the nearest accessible toilet from where you stand. Drinking fountains are near most toilets.

All four Aena lounges, Pau Casals, Joan Miró and Colomer in T1 and Canudas in T2, have access for people with reduced mobility. They are after security, and a T1 lounge cannot be reached from T2.

Spaces for drivers or passengers with reduced mobility are provided at the T1 General, T1 Express, T1 Long-stay, T2 General and T2 Express car parks. The Express car parks are free for the first 10 minutes, which covers a drop-off at the call point. Both terminals have a medical service, and in an emergency call 112.

Getting to the airport: Metro, train, Aerobús and adapted taxis

Metro L9 Sud stops at Aeroport T1 and Aeroport T2 and is step-free. The Rodalies R2 Nord train stops only at the Aeroport station by T2, joined to the terminal by a covered walkway, and the station has accessibility features; for T1, add the shuttle. The Aerobús coaches, A1 to T1 and A2 to T2, are low-floor. Each operator publishes its own accessibility details, so check with TMB, Rodalies or Aerobús before you travel with a wheelchair.

For a door-to-door trip, Barcelona's adapted eurotaxis carry a passenger in a wheelchair. Reserve one ahead of the trip with one of the companies the AMB names for adapted vehicles, and tell them which terminal you fly from. Barrier Free staff can take you from the aircraft to the taxi rank, or meet you at call point No. 17 by the T1 bus rank.

Your rights, and what to do if the assistance fails

Under Regulation 1107/2006 you have a right to free assistance when you depart from, arrive at or connect through an EU airport, provided the need was notified in advance; 48 hours is the recommended notice. It covers moving through the airport, check-in, security, boarding and leaving the aircraft, help to and from your seat, and baggage reclaim.

If something goes wrong, complain to Aena through the complaints and suggestions channel on its Barrier Free page, with your flight details, the time and what happened. If you are not satisfied with the answer, take it to AESA, the Spanish State Aviation Safety Agency, which enforces the regulation in Spain. Problems with the airline itself go to the airline first.

Barrier Free, Meet & Assist and Fast Track are different services

Aena sells two paid services that are sometimes confused with free assistance. Meet & Assist is a personal escort for anyone with a ticket; Fast Track in T1 and Fast Lane in T2 only shorten the security queue.