So the summer has finished for another year and taken the tourist trade along with it… Or has it?
According to the Airports authority AENA, airlines are expecting a bumper winter season and have already increased their schedule by 8.5 per cent from last year to accommodate for the increase in passengers. It’s not only the sun that attracts people to the Costa del Sol.
With the Sierra Nevada mountains and ski resorts of Granada, there is a huge winter influx of tourists as well. In addition, many homeowners return to the coast for the winter from Scandinavia and the UK. These factors and more each year increase movements to and from Malaga-Costa del Sol airport.
The number of seats which will be available this year has also increased by 10.5 per cent for the winter season, which is classed as running from Sunday October 25, to March 26, 2016. Malaga Airport predicts managing more that 30,100 commercial flights this winter with 4,994,014 seats available on the 150 routes that will connect Malaga to a total of 88 destinations.
Helped by new airlines such as Norwegian that have increased their routes and services, the strength of the European and domestic markets account for the majority of passengers. However, AENA state that the American and African markets are also on the up.
AENA go on to say that; “There will be 8.5 per cent more flights to other Spanish airports than over winter 2014-2015, with more than 7,300 flights planned, and 1,014,366 seats available, which equates to a 13.1 per cent increase on last winter.
The UK is still the main destination with 41 of the 150 routes, 7.9 per cent more seats and 6 per cent more flights to the UK than any other destination.
But wherever they are coming from or going to, the good news is; they will all be using Malaga Airport.
