Everything in Madrid runs on one transport card until you reach this bus stop. The Exprés Aeropuerto, operated by EMT Madrid between Barajas and the city centre, has run 24 hours a day and 7 days a week since November 2010, starting from Atocha by day and from Cibeles overnight. It refuses passes and ten-journey tickets outright, selling instead its own €5.00 ticket payable only as you board, with change given up to €20.00.
How much is the airport bus in Madrid? It runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from Atocha by day and Cibeles at night. A single costs €5.00, bought on boarding only. It takes cash, with change up to €20.00, plus card and phone, but no travel pass and no 10-journey ticket.
The Exprés Aeropuerto is EMT Madrid’s bus link between Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport and the centre of the city, running on a ticket of its own outside the regional pass system. It is the single fare exception in a network where everything else shares tickets with the metro.
Why your pass is refused here
The answer is about who issues the ticket, and it follows the same logic as everything else in Madrid transport.
Tickets and passes across the network are set by the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid and work on the metro, on Cercanías and on city buses alike, where a ride costs €1.50. The Exprés Aeropuerto sits outside that catalogue on a €5.00 ticket that EMT itself sells on board. Anyone arriving with a loaded pass finds it useless at precisely this door.
What the five euros actually buys
The price sits within cents of the metro, so the decision turns on what the fare table does not show.
The line runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the metro shuts overnight, covered in when the Madrid metro closes. It also has a dedicated luggage area, which no metro carriage offers on a journey with an interchange. It was the first municipal line to take bank cards on board, in 2019, and EMT has since installed ticket totems along the route.
| What you can pay with | Exprés Aeropuerto | Rest of the EMT network |
|---|---|---|
| Cash to the driver | Accepted, change to €20.00 | Accepted |
| Bank card on board | Accepted since 2019 | Varies by line |
| Phone payment | Accepted | Varies by line |
| Transport pass | Not accepted | Accepted |
| Ten-journey ticket | Not accepted | Accepted |
What the rest of the EMT network costs
Away from this line, the city bus is the simplest ticket in the system and takes no account of distance.
Any EMT journey costs €1.50 however many stops it covers, and the 10-journey ticket is valid on buses and on the metro alike within zone A, set out in Madrid public transport tickets explained and what a Madrid metro ticket costs. The card it loads onto is described in the Madrid transport card explained.
Where to catch it, and why that changes overnight
The route is not the same at eleven in the morning as at four in the morning, and that decides where to stand.
By day the line starts from the Atocha interchange. At night it shortens, departing from Cibeles towards Barajas. Anyone landing at three in the morning and looking for the Atocha stop is waiting for a bus that does not pass there at that hour.
How it compares with the other ways in
All three airport options are priced on different logic, so group size and arrival time decide the answer.
The metro adds a separate airport supplement unless you hold the tourist pass, covered in the Madrid airport metro supplement and whether the Madrid tourist travel pass is worth it. A taxi charges one closed price per vehicle to anywhere inside the ring road, in the flat airport taxi fare. Cercanías applies an airport fare of its own, in a Cercanías ticket and its zones.
Frequently asked questions about the Madrid airport express bus
Does the airport bus run at night?
Yes, 24 hours a day and seven days a week since it opened in November 2010. During the day it starts from the Atocha interchange, while at night it runs a shorter route beginning at Cibeles and heading out to Barajas.
Is there luggage space on the airport express bus?
Yes, the line has a dedicated luggage area, which is one of its practical advantages over a metro journey with an interchange. It was also the first municipal line to accept bank card payment on board, back in 2019.
How much is the Madrid airport express bus?
A single costs €5.00 and can only be bought as you board. Payment is by cash, bank card or phone, and drivers give change up to a maximum of €20.00, so a fifty-euro note will not be accepted on board.
Is the bus cheaper than the metro from Barajas?
They cost almost exactly the same. The metro comes to about €5.00 once the €1.50 to €2.00 fare and the €3.00 airport supplement are added, so the real difference is the bus running all night and carrying luggage properly.
Does a Madrid travel pass work on the airport bus?
No. The Exprés Aeropuerto carries its own €5.00 fare and accepts neither the transport pass nor the ten-journey ticket, both of which are valid across the rest of the EMT network where an ordinary city ride costs €1.50. It is the one stop in Madrid where the travel card is worthless and a five-euro note is not.