Come Fly with Me!

A flurry of new flight route announcements over recent months has underlined the fact that Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport is now truly international. Destinations such as New York, Prague, Bucharest and Athens amongst others now join a growing list of cities that can be reached with direct flights.

This summer 57 airlines are operating from Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport, offering 142 destinations and 255 routes. This comes after recent announcement by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, that in 2023 the airport had made history by surpassing 20 million passengers in a year for the first time in its 104-year existence. July last year was the busiest month in its history, hosting over 2.4 million passengers and 17,320 flights a significant milestone in the airport’s development.

While the United Kingdom remains the main market for Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport, last season saw a continuing demand from markets such as the Netherlands, Italy, France, Denmark and Ireland.

Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport has come a long way from the single terminal building of the 70s – which you can still find at the (very far) eastern end of the modern terminal and still houses the airport’s chapel. The two-story building was so nondescript that in the early 80s, passengers landing at the airport though that they had been diverted on route!

The modern terminal, however, has the facilities that you would expect from an airport serving Malaga, one of Spain’s most exciting cities, as well as the perennially popular Costa del Sol. These include frequent train and express coach links to Málaga itself as well as Marbella and Estepona.

With what promises to be the busiest season in years approaching, several high profile carriers have announced plans to meet the demand.

Ryanair, for example, will increase the number of planes based at the airport from 13 to 16, and link to 89 destinations. The airline has also increased the number of seats available by 19%, with three out of every ten passengers who travel via Málaga Airport flying with Ryanair.

Elena Cabrera, director of marketing in Spain and Portugal, commented, “Málaga is a safe bet for the company. In the last three years there has never been an increase like this".

Ryanair has also added new destinations for 2024, including the capitals of Romania and the Czech Republic, Bucharest and Prague, and the central Polish city of Lodz.

"This high season we are focusing our reinforcements on the Eastern markets, which are experiencing significant growth, with increases in frequencies to Poland and Bulgaria," Cabrera said.

Fellow low cost carrier Easyjet is also launching new routes this summer. The British airline has announced new direct flights to Athens, Nantes and Nice. Javier Gándara, director of EasyJet Southern Europe commented, “These routes provide our passengers with a wider range of destinations to explore and allow us to promote tourism between tourist cities”

Easyjet currently has 15 destinations from Malaga, with an incredible 1.8 million passengers flying from the airport last year.

It is not just the European carriers that are expanding to Málaga, however. United Airlines has announced it is tripling its flight offering after a successful first summer of operations last year. Flying from Malaga Airport to New York non-stop every day, the company will increase the number of transatlantic flights in May from 52 to around 150 between Malaga and Newark Airport.

United Airlines said that, "although the demand for transatlantic summer trips remains at peak levels, United has increasingly seen customers search for spring season breaks”. Reporting a 33% increase in demand United Airlines said the decision to resume several of its most popular routes early would "give customers more time and options to visit Europe”.

Antonio de Toro, Head of United Airlines Sales in Spain, said that the increased volume of flights to New York “is a clear commitment to the Andalusian market”.

With such a wide variety of options now available from Málaga this year, the only question is – where do you want to go for your next trip?