Cristina Hodgson
MALAGA airport continues to exceed pre-pandemic passenger figures in what is forecast to be a record-breaking year for tourism on the Costa del Sol.
For the second month in a row, Malaga has registered higher passenger rates compared with pre-pandemic numbers.
The airport was used by 1,120,167 travellers in January—10.5% more than in 2019—and by 60.9% in January of last year, 2022 and February has also finalised with higher pre-pandemic numbers.
Specifically, the Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport closed February with 1,123,164 passengers, which is 6.7% higher than the figures for the same month in 2019 – the year prior to the pandemic – and handled 8,570 aircraft movements, representing an increase of 5.3% compared to that year.
This positive trend is due to an increase in both domestic and international flights, according to Aena reports.
Internationally, the UK remains the most popular destination with 234,362 passengers in February, followed by the Netherlands, with 81,704; Germany, with 64,885; and Italy, with 51,558.
The remaining 250,828 commercial passengers recorded last month travelled to or from a Spanish city, which, according to Aena ‘consolidates the strength of the domestic market by significantly surpassing the records of 2019 by 28.3%
Malaga-Costa del Sol airport, the main gateway for international tourism to Andalucia, ranks third on the peninsula in terms of user volume, behind Madrid and Barcelona.
READ MORE:
- Spain’s Malaga airport exceeds pre-pandemic passenger figures in January
- Spain’s Malaga airport ends 2022 at 93% pre-Covid passenger levels
