Flight searches from UK to Spain’s Costa del Sol skyrocket by 177% in a week

SEARCHES for flights from the UK to Malaga have increased by 177% in the last week alone.

According to a report by the Turismo Costa del Sol, this increase compares the week June 22-28 with the previous week, June 15-21.

However, since Spain opened its borders to Schengen zone countries and the UK last week, flight searches skyrocketed, with the uncertainty now cleared.

The number of flight searches from other countries to the Costa del Sol airport also increased, namely Germany, France and Belgium, but they are all at least 74% behind the UK in terms of numbers.

The number of plane tickets available for flights to Malaga during July, August and September now reach 2.84 million.

That still marks a percentage drop of 18% compared to last year, as some airlines will be flying a reduced schedule, such as EasyJet at 50% and Ryanair at 40%.

From the UK in particular, there are 822,862 plane seats on offer for those three months, with Germany coming in second with 210,453.

In July, 80% of the province’s hotels will be open, with an average occupancy according to Malaga Hoy at 30-35%.

However, only 10% of that hotel occupancy is expected to be international tourists, with 90% projected to be Spaniards.

This comes as flight searches to Malaga from other Spanish airports increased by 72% in a week.