Bilbao Airport

The Airport at Bilbao was designed by the famous Architect Santiago Calatrava and is a reflection of the modernization of this buzzing, Spanish City that is also home to the Guggenheim Museum.

Due to the building works and the construction of the new arrivals hal at  Bilbao Airport, there is no direct connection to the car park by lift or escalator, but four new lifts have been installed (two on the sides to ease passenger flow between Arrivals and Departures and the long-stay parking facilities, and another two lead to the Departures area from the car park P1 tunnel).

Passengers can access the car park through the vehicle tunnels. New payment machines have been installed on the same floor so it is not necessary to go to level 0 of the car park.

Until the building work is completed  passengers from other Spanish airports and Schengen countries will be able to use the exit door closest to the new lifts to gain access to the car park and the taxi rank.

At the other end of the Arrivals Hall Non-Schengen passengers  will be able to use a door opposite the bus stop, just in front of the new lift which will lead to the Departures floor and the long-stay parking facilities P2.

Bilbao Airport is just 12 kms outside the City of Bilbao and in the last 10 years the passenger traffic has more than doubled from 1.6 million passengers in 1995 to over 3.6 million passengers in 2009 with over 54,146 flights being handled. In Spanish it is known as Aeropuerto de Bilbao and in German it is Bilbao Flughafen

There are four main companies offering Bilbao Airport car hire. Before booking you car you should read more about our experience with car hire at Bilbao Airport.

The car hire companies are: Avis at Bilbao Airport - Europcar at Bilbao Airport - Hertz at Bilbao Airport and National Atesa at Bilbao Airport.

A large amount of the passenger traffic at Bilbao Airport is from internal flights and you can fly from Bilbao to any of the following Spanish Airports: A Coruna, Alicante, Barcelona, Badajoz, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife (North and South), Valencia and Vigo.

There are also European flights to Brussels, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Munich, Paris (Orly & Charles de Gaulle) and Stuttgart.At the moment Easyjet, Clickair and AerLingus fly from the UK and Ireland to Bilbao.

If you want to get to the Languedoc  Region of France from Bilbao you cannot  get a direct flight but can fly via Madrid Barajas  into Toulouse Airport with Iberia Airlines.

Further information can be obtained by clicking on Dublin to Bilbao - Gatwick to Bilbao - Heathrow to Bilbao and Stansted to Bilbao

The baggage area at Bilbao Airport is in a bright room on the ground floor of the terminal. After collecting your luggage head for the main Bilbao Airport Arrivals Hall where you will find directions for the buses and taxis.

On the top floor of the terminal you will find the Bilbao Airport Departures Hall which has 36 check in desks and is accessed by crossing a five lane (38m) bridge. After checking in, the departures lounge has a Duty Free shop and several fashion outlets, gift shops and cafes including a new self-service cafeteria which has a fast grill service and is only a few metres away from boarding gates 5 and 6 in the Departures area, next to Loiu cafeteria.

Leave plenty of time for the walk to your aircraft as you will pass along a 300m glass sided corridor that gives you a fantastic view of the entire airport terminal.

Bilbao Airport taxis can be found outside the main arrivals hall and the fare for the journey into Bilbao City centre is around €20 and €27 to Getxo. Unlike may other airports there is not much choice when booking private transfers.

The Bilbao Airport buses start the service into the City Centre at 06.20 each morning and run every 20 minutes until midnight. The fare for the 45 minute journey is around €1.10.

There is also a bus from Bilbao which provides an overnight connection into Madrid (Barajas) Airport T4 for early flights. You can find out more at www.alsa.es

Whilst there are no Bilbao Airport Trains there are local trains in Bilbao: the EuskoTran is a single line tram service from Atxuri Station to Basurto which runs parallel with the river and passes the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. 

The Euskotren runs from Axturi Station to Bermeo, Gernika and San Sebastian and offers some spectacular views during the journey, but is slower than the bus service.  The MetroBilbao is a single line railway designed by Norman Foster which runs from Bilbao and splits into two lines after San Inazio.

Finally there is the Artxanda Funicular which runs at fifteen minute intervals from Plaza Funicular just off calle Castanos and is a wonderful old cable car which is the only way to travel if you want some fantastic photographs of Bilbao.

We have also written about using trains in Spain.

To save you time finding your way around when you arrive in Bilbao, we have lived and worked in Spain for a number of years and have provided an up to the minute Bilbao Area Guide on sporting and leisure amenities which includes the best Bilbao Shopping, Bilbao Markets, Bilbao Golf Courses, the different types of Bilbao Beaches, recommended Bilbao Restaurants and Local Attractions in Bilbao.

In our Bilbao Airport Parking section we have indexed all the rates and terms for parking at Bilbao Airport including details on the express parking service that they offer. The new P2 car park has 13 parking spaces without a roof for vehicles that are higher than normal.

Iberia have a VIP lounge on the 1st Floor of the departure hall which is open from 6.00 to 22.00 and you can call them on 0034 944 869 836. Spanair also have the Bristol VIP lounge on the second floor (open from 06.00 to 21.00). Telephone: 0034 944 869 777 or fax: 0034 944 869 776.

Bilbao Airport is located at 12 kilometres from the city centre. Bilbao enjoys fantastic connections with the northern area of Spain: The A-8 road, which leads to Santander in the West, and to San Sebastian, Irun and France in the East; and the AP-68, which connects with Vitoria, Logroño, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Burgos and Madrid.

Visit our Bilbao Airport maps and driving directions for detailed information.

The weather in Bilbao is quite a lot different to the parts of Spain that most people visit on their summer holidays. As always packing the right clothes help you enjoy your holiday and within this section we have the run down on the annual Bilbao Weather.

Unfortunately there is no place to leave luggage at Bilbao Airport.