Palma de Mallorca Airport (Son Sant Joan)
Palma de Mallorca Airport is the island's only airport, 8 km from Palma, and 33.8 million passengers passed through it in 2025. It is one terminal with four boarding modules, and it works well once you know where things are. This is the guide we would give a friend: what to do on arrival, how to get out of the airport quickly, and how to make the wait before a flight home a pleasant one.
The 30-second version
On arrival, everything you need is on Floor 0: the taxi rank, EMT's A1 bus into Palma and the car-hire desks. The A1 runs from 05:30 until about 03:10, costs €5 and reaches the old town at Porta des Camp, a three-minute walk from Es Princep. Flying home, buy Aena's Fast Lane for €11.10 on a busy morning; it is open 24 hours. If you fly to the UK or anywhere outside Schengen, you board in Module A after passport control, where the Llevant lounge sits opposite gates A20 and A21.
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Every airline; the busiest links are Barcelona, Madrid, Düsseldorf and Cologne, and Germany, Spain and the UK supply the most passengers
Arrivals, taxis, buses and car hire on Floor 0; check-in on Floor 2; the central airside hall, with the Valldemossa lounge and most of the shops, on Floor 4. Gates are in four modules, A to D, reached from the central hall.
Non-Schengen flights, the UK's included
Reached through passport control. The Llevant lounge (non-Schengen only) is on Floor 1 opposite gates A20 and A21, with O'Learys on the same floor.
Flights from the UK and other non-Schengen countries go through passport control. The EU's Entry/Exit System is being rolled out: on your first entry you may be asked to register fingerprints and a photo at a booth before the border desk, at no cost, and the record lasts three years. Children aged 11 or younger are not fingerprinted. UK adults may be directed to e-gates where they are working. From within Schengen, you walk straight through.
Bags come out on Floor 0, into the arrivals hall. The meeting point, with seats, is in the centre of the hall opposite Aena's information desk: the easiest place to meet a driver. Tourist information and lost property (09:00 to 17:00) are in the same hall, and Paul, the bakery-café, is open 24 hours.
The signed rank is outside arrivals on Floor 0. Use it and ignore anyone offering rides elsewhere, as Aena advises. Taxis run on the meter: the minimum fare from the airport is €16.95, which covers the first 7 km, and the €4.65 airport supplement is charged once. Under the official tariff, luggage, pushchairs and paying by card cost nothing extra.
EMT's A1 leaves from the arrivals stop on Floor 0, every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 12 at weekends for most of the day, from 05:30 until about 03:10. It is an airport-only line, so it does not take local passengers in between, and it calls at the Palau de Congressos, Porta des Camp, Plaça d'Espanya (for the Sóller train and TIB's island buses) and Passeig de Mallorca, the end of the line, about 25 minutes from the airport. The fare is €5 in cash, and contactless cards are accepted.
TIB's A11 runs all year to Palmanova, Santa Ponça and Peguera, and in summer on to Camp de Mar. The A32 (Alcúdia and Can Picafort), A42 (Cala Millor and Cala Bona) and A51 (Llucmajor and Campos) are seasonal and in 2026 run until 31 October. Pay with a contactless bank card, tapping in and out, and the day's trips are charged as one total; or pay the driver in cash.
Aena lists desks for Avis-Budget, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz, OK Mobility, Record Go and Sixt on Floor 0, with the cars on Floors 0 to 2 of the car park next door. Other firms meet you with a free shuttle to a depot outside the airport. Our car hire page has prices, deposits and the catches.
Departures are on Floor 2, where the buses stop. The A1 back to the airport runs from Passeig de Mallorca and Plaça d'Espanya from about 04:15, every 15 minutes on weekdays for most of the day, and stops at Departures before Arrivals.
Check-in is on Floor 2. Your airline sets the deadline for bag drop; online check-in and a mobile boarding pass save one queue. If you need assistance, request it from Aena or your airline at least 48 hours before the flight and report to a signposted meeting point two hours before departure.
Aena's Fast Lane gives priority at the security checkpoint for €11.10, bought on Aena's VIP site and valid for three months. It is open 24 hours, children aged 0 to 5 go through free, and it is included for business-class passengers and some airline loyalty cards. Scan the QR code, then your boarding pass, at the gate.
Flights to the UK and other non-Schengen countries leave from Module A, after passport control. Gov.uk advises allowing extra time on departure while the Entry/Exit System beds in, as checks may happen before boarding, so do not linger in the central hall if your gate is in Module A.
The central airside hall on Floor 4 has most of the shops and the Valldemossa lounge, and each module has its own cafés. The best food is spread out: Cuit and La Bellota in Module D, Forn d'es Pont in B. Check your gate's module before you settle.
The one to choose if your module is undecided: central, with a terrace, showers and a children's area.
The lounge for UK flights: you are already past passport control and close to your gate, with showers and a nursing room.
Best if you board in Module C; showers, a children's area and a quiet rest area.
Smaller and simpler, with catering and reception; worth it for a Module B gate and a long wait.
A sports bar, not a lounge, but a fair use of a Priority Pass visit before a UK flight.
Cuit RestaurantModule D, airside
Mallorcan cooking with a modern hand, seasonal and Mediterranean; the best sit-down meal in the airport, 06:00 to 23:00.
La BellotaModule D, Floor 2, airside; also arrivals
Acorn-fed ham carved in front of you, with tapas at the tables or the bar, 05:00 to 23:00 airside.
Forn d'es PontModule B, Floor 1, airside
A Mallorcan bakery: ensaïmadas to eat now or carry home in the box.
Santo CristoModule A, Floor 4, airside
Balearic deli with ensaïmadas baked every day and Balearic delicacies to take home, 05:30 to 22:00.
Santa GloriaModule D, Floor 2, airside
Artisan bread, pastries and a good breakfast, 07:00 to 21:00.
StrEATModule C, Floor 2, airside
A small food market of street-food counters, 06:00 to 22:00, for a group that cannot agree.
PaulArrivals hall, landside; also Floor 2 airside
Bakery-café open 24 hours in arrivals: coffee and a croissant at any hour.
MasQMenosArrivals floor, landside; also Module D airside
Tapas with outdoor tables in arrivals, 07:00 to 23:00, while you wait for a later lift.
The A1 is the bus for a late landing: it runs from 05:30 until about 03:10, every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 12 at weekends for most of the day, then every 20 minutes to 01:15 and hourly after that.
It is also the start of the bus route to Sóller and Deià: ride it to Plaça d'Espanya and change at the Estació Intermodal for TIB's 204 to Sóller, about every half hour, or the 203 to Deià.
The minimum taxi fare from the airport, €16.95, already covers the first 7 km, so the old town costs little more than the minimum.
Three of TIB's four airport lines are seasonal and stop on 31 October in 2026; from November only the A11 to Peguera runs. And the Formentor lounge in Module D is closed for refurbishment, so the nearest lounge to a D gate is Mediterráneo in C.
Children aged 0 to 5 go through the Fast Lane and into Aena's lounges free; those aged 6 to 10 pay a reduced lounge price, from €22.20. The Valldemossa, Llevant and Mediterráneo lounges have a children's area and a nursing room. Taxis carry pushchairs free and take four on the standard fare; five or six passengers cost €3 more.
Aena's assistance service meets you at signposted points in the car park, on the arrivals forecourt and in check-in. Request it at least 48 hours ahead through your airline, Aena's website or app, or on +34 91 321 10 00 (07:00 to midnight), and be at the meeting point two hours before departure. A taxi for people with reduced mobility can be called on +34 971 703 529.
Every flight from Palma falls under EU rules. Arrive three hours or more late and you can claim €250 on flights up to 1,500 km and €400 on longer flights within the EU and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. After two hours' delay on a short flight, or three on a medium one, the airline owes you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are moved to the next day.
Some things are. Paul in the arrivals hall and Soho Coffee in Module A are open 24 hours, the Fast Lane runs around the clock, and the A1 bus runs until about 03:10 and starts again from the city at about 04:15. For a dawn flight, the Valldemossa and Llevant lounges open at 05:00. If you would rather sleep in a bed, Es Princep, in the old town, is about 12 minutes away by road.
Es Princep and Can Cera, in Palma's old town, are 12 and 18 minutes away by road, and the A1 stops three minutes' walk from Es Princep. Our hotels in the Tramuntana are 34 to 49 minutes away, Castell Son Claret 38 and Can Ferrereta 42, and Four Seasons Formentor and Cap Vermell, at the island's far corners, 71. Our transfers page sets out every option for each.
Questions people ask
By taxi, 12 to 18 minutes and about €17 to €21 by day on the meter by our reckoning, or on EMT's A1 bus for €5, about 15 minutes to Porta des Camp at the old town's edge. The A1 runs from 05:30 until about 03:10.
Taxis are metered: €2.50 flag fall and €1.20 a km on weekdays from 07:00 to 21:00, €2.85 and €1.35 at night, at weekends and on holidays, plus a €4.65 airport supplement. The minimum fare from the airport is €16.95.
Yes, EMT's A1, from the arrivals stop on Floor 0 to Plaça d'Espanya and Passeig de Mallorca in about 25 minutes. It costs €5 and runs every 12 to 15 minutes for most of the day.
Four are open: Valldemossa in the central hall, Llevant in Module A for non-Schengen flights, Mediterráneo in Module C and Mestral in Module B. Entry costs €48.00 for adults (€51.26 at Llevant) on Aena's VIP site, and three are on Priority Pass.
Aena's Fast Lane costs €11.10 per person, is valid for three months from purchase and is open 24 hours. Children aged 0 to 5 go through free.
Non-Schengen flights, the UK's included, board in Module A after passport control. The Llevant lounge and O'Learys are there, on Floor 1.
Image credits: Marc Ryckaert (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Arne Müseler (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Friedrich Haag (CC BY-SA 4.0)