If there’s one thing that consistently serves as a good bellwether for the state of a country or region’s tourist industry, it is the measure of the numbers of travellers passing through nearby airports. And that’s great news for the Costa del Sol area of Spain, given a recent report suggesting that Málaga Airport was used by over two million passengers during July.
To be exact, the figure was 2,064,856, as reported by SUR in English. It’s a significant milestone, not least because this number is just 7% shy of that seen in the July immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic started – a firm signal that tourism here is back on the way up.
Indications of a fruitful and encouraging summer after the coronavirus crisis
By this point, it scarcely needs to be said to anyone that the pandemic exerted considerable pressure on tourism across Europe, and that was certainly the case in Spain.
It is therefore greatly heartening to hear that, according to what the newspaper said were “sources at the airport operator Aena”, there have been increases in both national and international air traffic at Málaga. The 15,459 flights recorded as having landed and taken off at the airport in July was just 3% below the equivalent figure for three years earlier.
National passenger numbers are strong at the airport – but international travel remains dominant
The figures for national tourism were perhaps especially interesting, the number of domestic flights in July having gone up by 19.3% in July compared to the situation during the same month in 2019.
However, it was also clear from the data that the airport still greatly counted on international connections to fuel its success, with these flights accounting for 83% of passengers.
After Spain, the countries that provided the highest demand for the airport were the UK – with 567,954 passengers – and Germany, which accounted for 126,117 passengers. Next up in the ranking were France (121,252 passengers) and Holland (105,539). And while they didn’t make the overall top five, the likes of Italy, Morocco, and Turkey saw impressive growth rates far outstripping the figures for 2019.
It was also intriguing to see in the data a trend of steadily rising activity at the airport, with more than 10 million passengers having passed through over the last seven months, on 81,815 flights. 8,412,387 of the total number of passengers came from outside of Spain.
Are you eager to make the most of the best-value Málaga Airport transfers for your next visit to this part of Andalucia? If so, you are very welcome to give us a call – on +34 951 279 117 – to learn more about our services and to book your transfer.
