A JOINT train-and-plane ticket is set to be launched by Iberia airlines in conjunction with State rail board RENFE.
Travellers buy a ticket for the high-speed AVE train, which will take them straight into Terminal 4 at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport and which will include the cost of their flight.
In the same way as a connecting flight, if the train is delayed, passengers will not have to miss their plane and buy another ticket as they will automatically be put on the next one without any extra costs.
It will also mean train times are streamlined with check-in times, avoiding unnecessary rushing around or waiting.
Luggage would be checked in at the train station and collected at the final, usually long-haul, destination.
As yet, the deal has not been closed and Spain's public works and infrastructure minister Ana Pastor is still in talks with both parties.
Last August, Iberia launched a temporary pilot train-to-plane ticket from high-speed AVE stations in Zaragoza, Valladolid, Sevilla, Córdoba and Málaga to Madrid's airport, and it proved very popular.
Coach companies Alsa and Avanza have already put in place bus-to-train tickets, allowing residents in towns without a railway station to book their entire journey in one hit, and with Iberia, 'Bus&Fly' tickets where coaches take passengers straight to the airport in time for their airline travel.
Air Europa already offers a train-to-plane ticket from 18 provincial capital cities in Spain.
This type of transport combination booked as a series of interlinked journeys from home town to foreign destination is something air passengers have been clamouring for over several years.
