Madrid’s international airport, Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport, is to undergo an expansion, with the goal of enhancing its role as Europe’s primary gateway to Latin America. Operations at the expanded airport – Spain’s busiest – are also expected to bolster the country’s connection to Asia.

Announcing the investment initiative for the airport, potentially totalling US $2.6bn, Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez said, “This will be the airport with the greatest growth potential in Europe.”

The sum is said to represent the largest infusion of funds into Spanish airport infrastructure in the past decade.

Sánchez also said that the expansion initiative is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities, while further bolstering Madrid’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The airport’s operator, AENA, says no new terminals are planned; instead the project will focus on refurbishing and expanding the existing facilities.

Scheduled to begin operations in 2031, the project aims to expand the airport’s capacity to 90m passengers per year.