Today, Madrid-Barajas Airport is the only international airport serving the capital city of Spain, Madrid. Each year, it handles more than 50 million domestic and international passengers, which has made it the busiest airport in Spain, fourth busiest in Europe and 11th busiest in the world. At the same time, it is also the largest airport in Spain. It is located 13km from the Puerta del Sol and 15 km away from the city centre of Madrid. The history of Madrid-Barajas Airport can date back to 1927 when the construction of the airport just began. Until 1931, it was open to domestic and international aircrafts. Two years later, it started to operate commercial airlines. At that time, the capacity of the small terminal was only 30,000 passengers a year compared with nowadays 50 million. Its first regular flight with a line to Barcelona was established by Lineas Areas Postales Espaolas, usually shortened to Iberia, which is the largest airline of Spain, based in Madrid. In the late 1930s, the airport could get access to several destinations of Europe and African countries. Until 1940s, the airport had its own paved runway. Before that, the airport field was full of wild grass and a little bit rugged. At the end of the decade, the airport already had three runways all of which do not exist today. During the same period, there were flights to Latin America and Philippines. During the next decade, there were five runways and the airport could handle more than half a million passengers. The scheduled flights to New York City also started to run. The national terminal now is known as T2was inaugurated late in 1950 and according to the Plan of Airports of 1957, Barajas Airport was ranked the first-class international airport. In 1960, with the development of technology, large jests began to land in the airport; as a result of the boost of tourism, the traffic of the airport increased sharply which exceeded twice of the estimation of the Plan of Airports of 1957 by serving 1.2 million passengers. In 1970, the international terminal now the T1 was constructed because of the increasing number of tourist and the advent of the Boeing 747. Also, the shuttle service was introduced at this time. Then, the 1982 FIFA World Cup largely encourages the expansion of the airport. With time going on, nowadays, the airport can handle 50 million customers. Every day when it is after 1:30 in the evening, the fast way to travel around the city will close. Besides, even the bus net is still working, but it is hard to tell if there is a bus stop near the place you live. Therefore, the ideal way which can allow you unlimited freedom is to rent a car. No matter how late the party will go on, you do not have to worry how to go back to your hotel. Car rental companies like Avis, Sixt, Opodo, Enterprises, Europcar, Hertz, Holiday Autos, and CarHire3000 can fulfill your need any time.
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