# Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)

> Madrid, ES · IATA: MAD · ICAO: LEMD · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `MAD` |
| ICAO | `LEMD` |
| City | Madrid |
| Country | ES |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 609 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| Cargo Rank | #1 |
| GPS | 40.47193, -3.56264 |

## Description

IAG Cargo anchors Europe's leading gateway for Latin American freight: its Madrid hub alone moves more than 200,000 tonnes a year and ties Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (IATA: MAD, ICAO: LEMD) to São Paulo, Bogotá, Lima and Mexico City through Iberia's long-haul network. The airport set an all-time record of 840,331 tonnes in 2025, up 9.6 percent year on year and more than 61 percent of all cargo across Spain's Aena network — clear of Barcelona and Zaragoza. Freighters from Emirates SkyCargo, Qatar Airways Cargo and Turkish Cargo add main-deck lift, alongside stations of integrators DHL, UPS and FedEx. Handling takes place in the Centro de Carga Aérea, a dedicated cargo city with a customs office and veterinary and phytosanitary border inspection posts, where WFS, Swissport and Menzies work around the clock. In 2025 handler SAASA opened a new freight terminal rated for 80,000 tonnes a year, with cold storage for pharmaceuticals, plants and perishable foods. The mix runs to pharmaceutical exports overseas, fish and fruit imports from South America and rising e-commerce volumes from Asia — the latter strained operations in May 2026, when forwarder association Ateia-Oltra Madrid reported IAG Cargo release delays of up to 72 hours. With around 66 million passengers in 2024, Barajas is also Spain's largest airport and home base of Iberia and Air Europa. Forwarders reach the cargo centre via the A-2 and M-12 motorways, some twelve kilometres from the city centre.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/adolfo-suarez-madridbarajas-airport-mad](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/adolfo-suarez-madridbarajas-airport-mad)*

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*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/adolfo-suarez-madridbarajas-airport-mad/llm-summary*