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Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD): flight delays and compensation

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport – annual passengers: 66+ million (2024). As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. EU261 applies to every departure. National enforcement body: AESA.

Live at Madrid (MAD) today

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About the airport

Madrid-Barajas is Spain's busiest airport and the main European gateway to Latin America. It is the hub of Iberia, and low-cost airlines connect it with the rest of Europe and the Canary and Balearic Islands.

An EU airport: every departing flight is covered by EU261, including long-haul flights to Latin America on non-EU airlines.

Busiest routes from Madrid – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom MADReturn
Palma de Mallorca PMI2,206,891547 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN2,036,488483 km€250€250
Rome FCO1,979,9461,331 km€250€250
Gran Canaria LPA1,970,0451,766 km€400€400
Lisbon LIS1,906,228513 km€250€250
Tenerife TFN1,785,8631,772 km€400€400
Paris ORY1,585,1601,028 km€250€250
London LHR1,550,0441,244 km€250£220
Amsterdam AMS1,229,6391,459 km€250€250
Paris CDG1,058,2281,062 km€250€250
Porto OPO1,042,503438 km€250€250
Brussels BRU1,014,1251,314 km€250€250
Ibiza IBZ961,479460 km€250€250
Milan MXP957,3581,149 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA908,4211,420 km€250€250
Munich MUC892,6281,496 km€250€250
Bilbao BIO808,113317 km€250€250
A Coruña LCG777,002506 km€250€250
Zurich ZRH760,8061,239 km€250€250
Málaga AGP696,645432 km€250€250
Vigo VGO686,925464 km€250€250
Lanzarote ACE645,3961,575 km€400€400
London LGW637,6291,213 km€250£220
Dublin DUB600,9971,452 km€250€250
Venice VCE581,3161,407 km€250€250
Geneva GVA554,2241,009 km€250€250
Berlin BER540,6571,850 km€400€400
Athens ATH501,4412,378 km€400€400
Istanbul IST497,6432,701 km€400€400*
Vienna VIE470,5851,805 km€400€400

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 215,420 flights arrived at MAD; 6,073 of them were held back this way, 2,264 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.45 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather53%
  • ATC capacity28%
  • aerodrome capacity12%
  • special event3%
  • other3%
  • environmental issues0%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 11 June 2025 – 4,547 minutes, mostly weather; 4 January 2025 – 4,228 minutes, mostly weather; 5 May 2025 – 4,187 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 170,154 arrivals, 0.35 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (69%) and ATC capacity (14%).

Check what happened at MAD on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (53% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (28%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport

  • Summer thunderstorms over central Spain – extraordinary circumstances, but care and re-routing are still due.
  • Air traffic control strikes in France affect flights between Madrid and northern Europe that cross French airspace.
  • Long distances between terminals: Terminal 4 and its satellite T4S are linked by an automated train, so tight connections are easy to miss.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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What happened?Step 1 of 4

What happened to your flight?
Where did you fly from and to?

With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

How late did you arrive at your final destination?

What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

When were you told about the cancellation?
When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
Which airline operated the flight?
When was the flight?

How many passengers were on the booking?

1 passenger

Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

  • Free, no sign-up
  • Fee only if successful (35%)
  • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

Local information

  • Spain's enforcement body is AESA (Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea), which accepts complaints after the airline has replied or failed to reply.
  • For a missed connection in Madrid on a single booking, compensation is based on the total distance to your final destination – often €600 for Latin America.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport?

Yes. MAD is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport?

If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

How is the length of the delay measured?

By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

Related guides

Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

Sources

  1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
  2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.