Unstoppable growth of Malaga Airport revealed in latest passenger stats with double the national growth

Pilar Martínez

Malaga

Thursday, 12 June 2025, 13:44

Malaga Airport continues its steady and unstoppable growth, surpassing the average in Spain's airport operator's network (Aena). In the first five months of the year, the gateway to the Costa del Sol registered an increase of 7.7% in terms of passengers compared to the same period last year. In addition, May added 8.7% more passengers on its own, reaching a record number of 2,584,681 passengers. Almost ten million passengers have transited through these facilities between January and May.

There has also been an increase in the number of flights: 8.2% (69,389) in January and a 10% increase in May. 2024 was already marked by big growth: 17% in the number of operations between January and May and 10.5% increase in terms of passengers in May, or 24.2% more than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Aena data confirms that the growth rate of Malaga Airport is much higher than the average for Spain's airport network as a whole. In May, the average growth in Aena was 3.3% (29,226,368 passengers) and a 3.9% increase in flights. In Malaga, passenger numbers grew by 8.7% in the same period, while landings and take-offs grew by 10%. These figures consolidate its fourth position after Madrid, which increased its passengers by 1%; Barcelona, which grew by 3.7%; and Palma de Mallorca, which lost 0.5% of its users in May.

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This higher rate of growth can also be seen if we analyse the first five months of the year, in which the Aena network has gained 4.7% more passengers, while in Malaga this increase was 7.7%. Growth in Malaga is also more noticeable than at the airports that precede it: Barajas (Madrid), with a 3.6% increase in passengers; El Prat (Barcelona), with a 4.1% increase; and Palma de Mallorca, with a 2.5% increase.

The statistics support the Andalusian regional government's request to central government in Madrid to adopt "urgent" measures to proceed with the expansion of Malaga Airport, which has a maximum capacity of 30 million passengers. The facility closed 2024 with 25 million passengers, which is too close to the maximum capacity. Nothing is stopping the increase in passengers, not even the first five months of the year, which are usually the ones with the lowest volume.

While the Spanish government has not issued a response to the Junta's request, it has approved 3.2 billion euros for the expansion of El Prat. This lack of attention towards Andalucía caused the regional minister of tourism, Arturo Bernal, to denounce the situation on social media.

Meanwhile, Malaga Airport is growing above the national average month after month, approaching its maximum capacity without any response from the central government beyond the promise that it will be included in the investment plans for the period 2027 and 2031. However, Bernal has warned that Malaga Airport will already be too small at this rate of growth in 2026.

For the first time ever in May, this year Malaga Airport exceeded 2.5 million passengers and 17,977 flights. According to Aena, this new record is determined by an increase of 4.2% of passengers in connections with Spanish airports and 9.5% in those linking the Costa del Sol with international destinations. The increase in international passengers is much more noticeable than that on domestic flights: 9.3% compared to 0.9%.