Many family holidays start at Reus Barcelona Airport
When you have received or printed out the travel tickets for your family holiday to Barcelona do check the airport code if it is REU then you are flying to and from Reus Barcelona Airport. Originally just known as Reus Airport low-cost carrier Ryanair made it their Barcelona hub in 2008 and changed the name to reflect this. The airport was opened in 1935 but all the buildings and facilities have been brought right up-to-date for modern air travellers. Many airlines including some low-cost carriers still use the main Barcelona El-Prat Airport so it really is important to check which airport you will be using.
If you are flying from the UK with Thomas Cook Airlines or Thomson Airways you will almost certainly be arriving at Reus Barcelona Airport. Ryanair and Jet2 on the other hand use both airports. Of the other airlines using the airport: the Republic of Ireland’s Air Contractors do seasonal charter work from here; Jetairfly and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium have seasonal flights here to and from Brussels; and Ural Airlines operates a seasonal charter from here to Moscow. British carrier Flybe and Helvetic from Switzerland have also been known to operate seasonal flights from REUS.
The city of Barcelona is some 62 miles to the northeast of the airport and the easiest way to get to the city is by the regular coach transfer operated by Hispano Igualadina. The bus journey takes about one-and-a-half hours so you will need to factor this into your travel time and arrangements. If you intend on hiring a car for your holiday Reus Barcelona Airport is well serviced by car hire companies including Budget and Firefly.
In 2013 the airport handled nearly one million passengers and just under 17000 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings). Compare this to the 35 million plus passengers and 270000 aircraft movements at Barcelona El-Prat and the scale of the operations is quite clear. It is often a much quicker and more relaxed process going through smaller airports and Reus Barcelona Airport certainly has that in its favour.
You will not be missing out on airport facilities here either the arrivals check-in and departure buildings are all less than ten years old and are bright modern and comfortable. There are 23 check-in desks serving 12 departure gates making the whole process simple and efficient. There is a cafe gift shop and a number of information desks in the departures area. Once through security at departures the airside services include a duty free shop and the ‘Bier Garden’ serving food and drink while you wait to board. The airport’s small size means that you will either have a short walk from the boarding gate to your plane or will board an airport shuttle bus across the airport apron to where your plane is waiting.
Reus Barcelona Airport serves a number of other holiday resorts on the Costa Dorada the nearest of which are Salou Cambrils and La Pineda and Port Aventura is just a little over 5 miles away which is one of those Barcelona facts for kids that you might want to keep quiet about until you take-off for home.
