New security scanners will let passengers keep liquids and electronics in hand luggage at Barcelona airport

Security measures are being updated at Barcelona airport, as the first parts of the expansion plans announced before the summer are now being implemented. 

Starting from Monday, the first of the new CT scanners have been deployed in the airport, which will soon replace all security machines in the transport hub.

These new CT scanners use different technology to the up-to-now standard ones, including 3D imaging and material detection, meaning passengers will be able to keep liquids and electronics inside hand-luggage when going through security controls which have these machines, saving time and hassle. 

The limit of 1 litre total liquids will still be in force, however, and they will still have to be separated into individual 100ml containers. 

The first of these machines are now in use in Barcelona airport but the old machines will be phased out by the first trimester of 2027, with 52 new CT scanners in use instead, at a cost of €39 million.

These new details were explained to reporters on Monday morning by Eva Valenzuela, director of Barcelona airport.

Terminal 1 expansion

These new machines are larger and thus require more space. As such, airport authorities also announced on Monday an expansion of Terminal 1. 

The glass facade will be brought 38 meters forward, encompassing the four traffic lanes which currently sit in front of the building, which will instead be pushed further back.

With the works, Terminal 1 will grow by 70,000m2, equivalent to 15.5% more space in the building. 

The new facade will be a replica of the current one, also made of glass. 

As part of the plans, the disused airport control tower at Terminal 1 will be dismantled. The tower has been out of use since 2005.  

Works on the T1 refurbishment will begin in 2028 and are expected to be complete by 2031 and have a budget of €700 million, which will be included in the €3.2 billion budget that airport management authority Aena already announced to expand the infrastructure and extend the third runway.

Also new in T1 are the fact that the security queues have been brought forward which allow authorities to feed the queues more efficiently. As part of the renovation works, new digital screens will be constructed above the security queue area, offering travellers information about their flights.

The works are not expected to cause major disruptions for passengers using the airport, although some redirections may be necessary. However, Valenvuela assures that the disruptions won't amount to passengers needing to arrive any earlier to the airport for flights. 

Runway expansion

The most controversial element of the airport expansion is the plans to extend one of the runways into La Ricarda, a protected natural space in the Llobregat delta. 

These plans don't come into the renovation plans outlined on Monday by airport authorities. Instead, that will be undertaken in a different phase of works, requiring its own specific plan of action.