Bilbao Airport (BIO), how to get there, where to park and much more.

Find out everything you need to know about Bilbao Airport. How to get there, where to park, where to sleep, where to eat and all the necessary information for your trip to Euskadi.

Bilbao airport, popularly known as La Paloma (because of its bird shape), or BIO, for its IATA (International Air Transport Association) code, is one of the most important airports on the Cantabrian coast. The volume of passengers, the number of airlines operating there and the wide range of destinations it offers leave no room for doubt. It is the fifteenth airport in the whole peninsula in terms of number of passengers, the twelfth if we take as a reference the most profitable airports, data that say a lot about the importance of this Basque airport.

Its strategic location places it 50 minutes from Vitoria Gasteiz, 1 hour from Donostia San Sebastian and 1 hour and 25 minutes from Saint Jean de Luz (Donibane Lohizune in Basque), places full of charm that are irresistible to the eyes of the people who visit us. Although all the urban centers that we mentioned have closer airports, it seems that they do not offer an attractive alternative for travelers, and it is that, every day that passes, the airport of Bilbao is consolidated, even more if possible, as the reference airport of Euskal Herria.

Today, this airfield is the largest gateway to the Basque Country, behind the highways and ahead of the cruise port of Bizkaia. A situation that has worsened with the recent increase in tourism throughout the Basque Country.

If you think that Bilbao airport is only for transporting people, you are wrong. Cargo and experiences also take place in this temple of aeronautics in the Basque Country. The Royal Aero Club of Bizkaia and the different cargo companies attest to this. All of them have their headquarters in the old airport of Bilbao, in the municipality of Sondika, space adjacent to the current airport, which still today continues to offer very good services. Get ready to discover its ins and outs.

This aerodrome is one of the many works that the architect Santiago Calatrava has starred in Bizkaia. A structure that follows the typical patterns of this Valencian architect and that has earned him the nickname of “The dove”.

Location: The location of Bilbao, between low and medium altitude mountains, in a “botxo”, without large flat spaces, made those responsible for creating this aerodrome look for options on the outskirts of the city. The chosen location was the Txorierri valley, a rural environment located just 10 minutes by car from the urban center of Bilbao. Although today the passenger airport is located in the town of Loiu, this has not always been the case. In the past, the neighboring town of Sondika, another of the towns that make up the Txorierri Community, housed the passenger terminal, a space now converted into a cargo terminal and service area. Of course, Bilbao airport has always been in the interior of the valley, perfectly communicated by the famous Txorierri corridor (N-637 road). As for distances and times, Bilbao airport is located about 10 – 15 minutes by car from the city center of the capital of Biscay (depending on where you are and the traffic you encounter), approximately 12 kilometers from the center of Bilbao.

How to get there: Although there is a project to link the airport with the center of Bilbao by metro, there is currently only the possibility of access by road. Therefore, the possibilities that we have left are private vehicles, public bus or cab. For all of them you have to calculate the duration that we have indicated in the previous section, 10 – 15 minutes, of course, everything depends on each situation.

Where to eat: Forget about eating in the establishments at the Bilbao airport, they are of poor quality and expensive, not worth it. For us, the best option to eat near the Bilbao airport is the Urbe restaurant, the restaurant of the Holiday Inn Express Bilbao Hotel. Close by, carefully designed, good value for money, good service and good seasoning, you can’t ask for more. Practically a BBB restaurant (good, nice and cheap).

If this restaurant is not to your liking and you want to know where to eat at the Bilbao airport you can take as a reference the list of restaurants in the Zamudio Technology Park, and is that the proximity between the airport and this agglomeration of companies makes us recommend almost any restaurant in our article “Restaurants in the Zamudio Technology Park“. If you allow us to make a recommendation, the Urbasa restaurant and its great homemade menu is a great option, especially if it is Thursday and we can taste its great menu of beans. On egin!

Where to park: Currently, due to the large volume of travelers coming from all over the Basque Country, there is a great struggle between companies to get customers arriving by car to Bilbao airport. Official parking (Aena) vs. low cost parking (local companies). All of them have their advantages and disadvantages, we will tell you about them in detail.

Official parking: Aena offers 4 types of parking facilities located near the terminal, which offer different options to travelers. The established price varies depending on the type of parking and the time used by each vehicle. Although these parking lots are more convenient than the unofficial parking lots, they are also more expensive.

Unofficial parking: Such is the demand for parking at Bilbao Airport that in recent years we have experienced a small boom of companies dedicated to this purpose. You may wonder how this is possible. It is very simple. These companies have large plots of land on the outskirts of the airport, just a few minutes away. In this way, they offer 2 options: Leave the car in their facilities and we use their transport (vans) to get to the terminal, or go by car to the airport itself and they are the ones who take care of taking our vehicle to their facilities. You choose. We have tried this second option, and it is a real marvel. Very comfortable and simple. They take care of everything. Even washing the car. The services usually included in these parking companies are chauffeur service and transfers, 24 hour security and covered parking among others.

However, we would like to inform you that if you do not need to park for more than 15 minutes at the airport of Bilbao, you can do it for free and legally in the departures area of the airport. The ticket that we are given at the entrance allows us to leave without going through the cashier if the duration of the parking is less than 15 minutes. A good initiative for all the people who come to pick up or take travelers.

Where to stay: The Holliday Inn Express Hotel Bilbao is located just 4 minutes from the Bilbao airport, in the neighboring town of Derio. Although the hotel does not have great services, thanks to its proximity, it is one of the best options to stay next to the Bilbao airport.

Tourist Office: The Bilbao airport tourist office is open all year round from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. In addition, there is a technological tourist office (panels that allow the user to interact) that show travelers what they will find once they leave Bilbao airport. This technological office is operational 24 hours a day.

Incidents: The wind is a daily companion at Loiu airport. A friendly element for the pilots who use the runways of this Basque airport day after day. Although from the outside, the southwest wind that occasionally blows through the terminal may seem crazy, pilots insist that it is nothing more than an element under control. We will have to listen to the experts. We leave you a video of Luis Calabor, a journalist from Bizkaia who has captured a film landing, a situation that is not usual and that we rarely have the chance to see. We hope not to have to live it in first person.

History: It all began in October 1927, with the creation of a provincial board to study the location of the airport of Bilbao. Unfortunately it was not until 1936 when the General Directorate of Aeronautics authorized the construction of the airport in the municipality of Sondika (currently this terminal is used as offices and cargo area).

As you can see the Bilbao airport is immersed in a continuous improvement movement, we hope to be able to add to this list the arrival of Metro Bilbao as soon as possible.

Experiences: There are aeronautical companies that offer experiences to enjoy our land from the sky. One of these experiences is offered by the Real Aero Club de Bizkaia, a sports association founded in 1950 based at the airport of Bilbao, which offers us the opportunity to take to the skies of Euskadi from any of its airplanes. A small contact with the aerial world that will delight us with the best views of the Basque Country, a perfect aerial baptism for lovers of unique experiences.

Gipuzkoa and Araba airports: Although we are in favor of using the airports of each province, we are also realistic. Nowadays, there is no airport capable of matching the destinations and fares offered by Bilbao airport. Although at present this aerodrome is the only profitable one in the entire Autonomous Community of Euskadi (according to Aena), we are sure that in the not too distant future this situation will change.

Airlines: More than 20 airlines operate in Bilbao airport, international, national, small, large, of all kinds. All with the same objective, to transport the traveler to another point on the globe.

Currently, airlines such as Vueling have their base at Bilbao airport, a fact that makes their flights intensify from this terminal and maintains the leadership of this airport with 35% of the market share. According to the company itself, Vueling is one of the most important bases for the company, a fact that can be confirmed by the 3 Airbus A320s that are permanently based at the Basque aerodrome.

Car rental: As in any self-respecting airport, there are a multitude of car rental companies in Bilbao. So many, that sometimes it is even difficult to make a good choice. The companies that have their own parking lot at Bilbao airport (Europcar, Hertz, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Avis and Sixt) are the only ones that have a fleet in the vicinity of the airport. Although, in many occasions, due to agreements between the rental companies themselves (they provide services to each other), you may find more competitive prices in brands that are not based at the airport itself. Having compared prices and conditions, we have come to the conclusion that conditions vary too quickly to recommend a single rental company, so, what you have to do is to compare, compare and compare, there is no other way.

Facilities: The terminal we find today, designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, was inaugurated in 2000. Its shape, that of a white bird with outstretched wings, can be appreciated wonderfully from above, taking off or landing. A fact that has led to the nickname with which this airport is known, “the pigeon”. And the fact is that its curious shape together with the white color that predominates throughout the facility is very reminiscent of a white dove. The terminal, small and easily accessible, is divided into 3 floors: Arrivals (level 0), departures (level 1) and offices (level 2), a practical design that allows us to access the essential spaces without wasting time in transit.

Next to the new terminal was also built a new control tower to cope with the high demand for flights, the current tower, also known as “the hawk” (because of its shape), is where all flights are managed, since the old tower was converted with technology to deal with emergency situations. Next to the old tower, we also find the original terminal, a space in which offices have been established, while the old runway is used daily by non-commercial aircraft, the place where the aerial experiences begin, as described in this article. Here are some of the facilities of this airport in Bizkaia:

It also has restaurants, bars and cafeterias, but as we have mentioned in the “where to eat” section, we recommend not to use them, unless you do not have time to go to one of the restaurants mentioned above.

Bilbao airport is a strategic place for all those people who are planning to travel to the Basque Country. If you have any questions about how to get there, where to eat or where to sleep in Bilbao airport, do not hesitate to leave us a comment in this article. Have a good trip! ta ondo pasa!