Granada-Madrid flights sold out as Iberia ends extra services despite rail stoppage

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Commuters face travel chaos as 65-euro capped fares spark record demand, leaving five-hour bus journeys as the only weekday alternative after the Adamuz tragedy

Mercedes Navarrete

Granada

Tuesday, 3 February 2026, 17:20

The stoppage of the high-speed train between Andalucía and Madrid due to the Adamuz tragedy has had a knock-on effect for people who travel regularly between the region and the Spanish capital.

In Granada, commuters can either try to get a ticket for the only train a day that runs between the two cities; a journey of more than five hours, or they can take one of the 16 daily coaches, but that option also takes at least four and a half hours in the best of cases.

This is because flights between Granada and Madrid are fully booked, at least on weekdays, for the foreseeable future.

Iberia has capped the price of its tickets, allowing cheaper prices than ever between Granada and Madrid, which has boosted demand and they are currently sold out.

Economy class tickets for flights from Granada to Madrid have sold for 65 euros this week and 139 euros in business class.

It took Iberia a week longer than in the rest of the Andalusian airports to put on extra flights, while in Seville and Malaga they put them on from the first week.

These extra services from Granada were only scheduled for last week and ended on Tuesday 2 February. Both Malaga and Cadiz have also stopped the extra flights.

The difference lies in the fact that other companies also have services between Malaga and Madrid, while Iberia is the only airline to offer flights from Granada and Cadiz to the capital.

Seville

Extra flights have been extended, according to Iberia, for Seville, which will continue to have additional daily flights to Madrid until Sunday 15 February, meaning an increase of 47 per cent of the normal offer.

In the case of the route between Granada and Madrid, the reinforcement was short-lived and was limited to one additional flight in each direction for three days, on 27 and 28 January and 1 February, which meant 1,192 extra seats over the 1,400 scheduled in an ordinary week and an increase of 85 per cent on this route during those dates.

However, despite the demand, which reflects the fact that tickets are already sold out at the beginning of the week, Granada has no more scheduled additional flights for the time being. However, Iberia has maintained the price cap of 99 euros each way in economy class until at least Sunday 15 February.

Bus connections from Granada to the Spanish capital are also sold out, according to the Alsa website, but there is still a wide range of timetables on offer. Granada has up to 16 daily coaches available covering the route between Granada and Madrid, with prices ranging from 22.68 euros for buses that take five hours to 44.65 euros for Supra buses, which cut half an hour off the journey time.

The return of the AVE is still up in the air

The Spanish government has not yet confirmed the dates for the restoration of the high-speed rail service between Madrid and Andalucía. On 28 January, the Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, announced that Adif had the judicial authorisation to work on the reconstruction of the Madrid-Andalucía line and set a deadline of ten calendar days for the reestablishment, which would be fulfilled on Saturday 7 February. However, there has been no official communication for the moment and there are no tickets on sale for that date. On Monday 2 February the Renfe website was offering the first direct AVE from Granada to Madrid for Monday 9 February, as IDEAL checked at 2.55pm. It was a fleeting appearance, the offer disappeared from the website and was replaced by the message that the route consulted was not available for the date indicated.