Cristina Hodgson
MALAGA-Costa del Sol airport has closed January with 10.5% more passengers figures than in 2019.
For the first time, Malaga has registered higher passenger rates compared with pre-pandemic numbers.
In fact, 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.
According to Aena reports, of the more than 1.1 million passengers, 864,341 opted for flights abroad, which represented a growth of 6.3% compared to January 2019 and 60.5% more than in the first month of last year.
Additionally, aircraft landings and takeoffs exceeded 9,000, representing 5.8% more than in 2019, with domestic flights rising by 26.3% above pre-pandemic levels.
Internationally, the UK remains the most popular destination with 216,828 passengers in January, followed by the Netherlands, with 79,653; Germany, with 66,747; and Italy, with 55,026.
The remaining 250,967 commercial passengers 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.’
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.
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