Cristina Hodgson
THE recovery in international flights is under way with the flight offer at Malaga-Costa del Sol airport back at 2019 values.
Specifically, airlines have scheduled more than 16.5 million seats at Malaga-Costa del Sol airport for the summer season—which runs from the end of March to October—placing the offer at ‘similar values to 2019.’
In fact, according to the airport’s director, Pedro Bendala, the request for seats for the high season is 4% higher than in the pre-pandemic year, when the Malaga infrastructure had its best passenger balance.
Fifty airlines have shown their interest in flying to the Malaga-Costa del Sol airport this coming summer season, which will connect the Costa del Sol with more than 120 cities in 34 countries.
The forecast of seats is an indicator of the evolution of traffic, however it does not imply that all tickets will be sold. For this reason, Bendala considers that it is not only ‘risky,’ but also ‘daring’ to venture at this time whether Malaga airport will repeat in 2022 the 20 million passengers it had in 2019.
“Whether we get there or not does not worry us because what we have clearly seen is that the change in trend has occurred” he said, adding that he was ‘confident that demand will follow’.
It is now necessary for the flight offer to be made as ‘visible’ as possible, a task which currently falls on the Junta, Costa del Sol Tourism and the City Council of Malaga who need to expose the travel option through promotional campaigns, attendance at fairs and contacts with tour operators.
Located in the district of Churriana, 7 km southwest of the city centre of Malaga, the Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport, also popularly known as Pablo Picasso Airport, is the main gateway for international tourism to the region.
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