Thank you. We had the same experience in Paris last month but I hoped I had just missed the airside connector. Appreciate your response.Went I flew through MAD last year, Customs dropped me into the non-secured portion of the airport, so I would have had to undergo another security check to reach my next plane. I cannot recall any international airport that keeps you airside after customs.
I'm walking the InglesSorry, I can't answer your question but because I am thinking that you are flying to Santiago to bus to Sarria to start your camino I will go off topic. Most likely you will have to make a bus connection in Lugo to get to Sarria. You qualify for a compostela walking from Lugo also. This will avoid a couple of days of crowds on the CF until you join it at Melide. See this thread:
Just to be sure: So that means that the OP, arriving on an international flight from the USA in Terminal T4S, has to go through a security check again for a domestic flight (in Spain) or Schengen flight departing from Terminal T4? Even when luggage had been checked through from the US airport to the final airport in Spain?At T4 you would go through passport control in T4S immediately upon landing, then take the train to T4. Rising from the train, you'd turn right off the escalators to go through 'Transit Security', which are separate lanes from those entering the airport from the curb.
Just to be sure: So that means that the OP, arriving on an international flight from the USA in Terminal T4S, has to go through a security check again for a domestic flight (in Spain) or Schengen flight departing from Terminal T4? Even when luggage had been checked through from the US airport to the final airport in Spain?
Oops. I keep forgetting the Ingles.I'm walking the Ingles
Tell me about ... .At the risk of muddying the matter
T4 is easy peasy if you are on Iberia, American or another One World carrier that files into T4.I'm very familiar with MAD's T4, which Iberia and American use, but I haven't been to T1/2/3 in years.
At T4 you would go through passport control in T4S immediately upon landing, then take the train to T4. Rising from the train, you'd turn right off the escalators to go through 'Transit Security', which are separate lanes from those entering the airport from the curb.
Technically, you will not go through customs, which is a passive process, until you collect your luggage in SdC.
I appreciate you reading the post. I was afraid that was the answer but hoped there was a path I missed last time. Thanks againWhat’s a bit confusing is that the OP asked one question and everyone started answering a bunch of other questions! Not knowing any of the OP’s plans re: airlines, separate tickets, etc, I went with the simple answer to their simple question: can I remain airside after clearing customs? To which the answer is, “no”
Thank youThis video describes a typical flight from the USA to Santiago de Compostela with transit in Madrid.
(I think that the flights from Madrid to Santiago depart from corridor K in zone H,J,K in terminal T4 ).
So you land in terminal TS4, go through passport control, take the train, go through a security filter, board your flight. It is as described by @Scudder in post #8. You don't go to the baggage claim hall, hence you don't go through custom lanes. Correct?
There is a separate security checkpoint for those who have arrived in T4S. You will take the train to the regular T4. Before you enter the secure part of T4, you will go through security. This is not the same huge general security at departures, but a special one just for those making connections.Flying to MAD from the US. After I clear customs, can I remain airside to get to my connecting flight to SdC or do I have to exit to groundside and go back through security in the Domestic Terminal? Obviously prefer to stay airside if possible. TiA
You are right of course. I, as well as others, had interpreted the question and replied accordingly.What’s a bit confusing is that the OP asked one question and everyone started answering a bunch of other questions! Not knowing any of the OP’s plans re: airlines, separate tickets, etc, I went with the simple answer to their simple question: can I remain airside after clearing customs? To which the answer is, “no”
I'm all carry-on, so no bags checked.As you know you’ll have to clear customs before switching to a domestic flight as you’ll be travelling with others who obviously don't need to clear customs on arrival.
Only next step after customs is through the one-way doors to landside.
On first arrival into Schengen you’ll have to clear immigration also.
(Edit: see below. Depends on where your bag is checked through to: I wrongly assumed Madrid)
I am arriving on American Airlines, no checked bags, and flying to SdC on Air Europa.You are right of course. I, as well as others, had interpreted the question and replied accordingly.
The reason is this: I have noticed that travellers from the USA write "clearing customs" but what they mean is "getting off my plane and boarding my connecting plane and what happens in between". Just in case that there are objections to my wording: This is not national stereotyping, it is an observation, and I assume that it has to do with the fact that international airports in the USA are organised differently to those in the EU in this context, i.e. it has to do with what one is accustomed to when living in a specific geographical region.
I re-read a similar description just now from a traveller on a recent flight from the US to Pamplona with a change of planes in Madrid: I cleared customs about 15-20 minutes after getting off the plane. Very fast. Found the airport tram downstairs. Took tram from T4s to T4 for domestic flight on Iberia. [...] then went to K gates [...for the flight to Pamplona]. It is obvious from this description that this traveller did not go through custom lanes. She went through passport control.
If @steven mains would not mind sharing the names of the airlines for the flight from the US to Santiago, it would be clearer to us what he meant. From the way the question had been formulated I had also assumed that it will be a flight landing in Terminal 4 (i.e. T4/T4S).
I agree: When you have passed through the customs lane / customs corridor / customs area you are "outside".
Thank you. As nobody has reacted to this post, I will volunteer. I have just wiped some egg off my face. @Vacajoe was right, we ought to have waited for this information before replying.I am arriving on American Airlines, no checked bags, and flying to SdC on Air Europa.
Technically, you will not go through customs, which is a passive process, until you collect your luggage in SdC.
I remember an epic discussion about this in the past, triggered by the question of hold luggage that is checked through to the final destination airport .I suppose that begs the question: OP, Clearing customs at a transit airport is unusual anywhere outside of the US—do you expect to clear customs in Madrid?
Thank youThank you. As nobody has reacted to this post, I will volunteer. I have just wiped some egg off my face. @Vacajoe was right, we ought to have waited for this information before replying.
As a general rule, American Airlines flights will arrive at Terminal TS4, and Air Europa flights will depart from Terminal T1 and T2. There’s a free shuttle bus that operates 24 hours a day. This is according to https://www.aireuropa.com/en-es/flight-deals-from-madrid. There is no mention of an option for a special transit channel between terminals for transit passengers at Madrid airport.
In this case, the process is likely to be like this: Arrival, passport control, leaving the terminal, taking the shuttle bus, entering the other terminal, passing through the security filter for domestic flights for all the passengers who start their journey in Madrid, departure.
The Iberia video (link above) is still useful to watch, though. All 4 figures arrive at TS4 and one of them leaves the terminal TS4/T4 eventually while the other 3 figures walk to their boarding area.