Airlines offer 11% more seats to fly between UK and the Costa del Sol this winter

Pilar Martínez

London

Wednesday, 6 November 2024, 11:04 | Updated 12:33h.

The Costa del Sol's high level of air connectivity is the key to its continued growth in its main international outbound market, the United Kingdom. This is a country from which 2.2 million travellers arrive at Malaga Airport, 6.4 per cent more than in the first nine months of the year, and where the airlines expect to increase this rate in the last quarter of the year. On the opening day of the World Travel Market (WTM) in London on Tuesday, the CEO of Turismo Costa del Sol, Esperanza González, was responsible for announcing the evolution and strategy that the province will carry out to win more British tourists, who stay longer in the destination and make a greater disbursement. In this regard, she pointed out that the airlines have programmed 11 per cent more seats to fly to the airport from October to December, which means that they have put 719,320 seats on the market.

A commitment that will allow the province of Malaga to be connected to 16 British cities, one less than in the same period last year due to the suspension of the connection with Southampton. Eight airlines are responsible for maintaining and accelerating the idyll of British tourists with the Costa del Sol.

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Of this programmed air capacity, almost 300,000 seats are concentrated in the connection with London, which will have 11 per cent more seats. It is followed by Manchester, with 79,598 seats, and Bristol, with 50,884. The 'Top 10' British destinations best connected to Malaga airport for this final stretch of the year are completed by Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, East Midlands, Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle. However, it is the route to Bournemouth, located on the south coast of England, which has experienced the greatest increase in the number of seats on offer for the last quarter. Specifically, according to data from Turismo Costa del Sol, they have shot up by 36.5 per cent, to more than 13,800.

Birmingham and Liverpool are the other two cities where the airlines have made the biggest bets on the route to Malaga, with growth of 25 and 19 per cent, respectively.

On the flip side of the coin are Cardiff, Exeter and Aberdeen, where airlines have reduced their supply of seats. Specifically by 5.1 per cent, 5.8 per cent and 19.7 per cent, respectively. As for the airlines that will operate these routes, all eight have improved air capacity, with Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair scheduling the largest volume of seats, followed by easyJet, Jet2.com and British Airways.

Esperanza González explained that "2024 has been the best year in the British market", confident that the trend will continue to rise next year. In fact, from January to September, Malaga received passengers by air from 20 cities and major towns in the United Kingdom, with London being the main sending city with 909,417 passengers; followed by Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, East Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds and Belfast, with arrivals of between 100,000 and 250,000. Newcastle and Edinburgh follow, with over 50,000 passengers so far this year.

The Costa del Sol is presented as a safe value in view of the fact that thirteen of the fourteen main issuing cities and towns are growing in arrivals, with the exception of East Midlands. And, according to data from Turismo Costa del Sol, compared to 2019, only four cities are recovering: Bristol, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Manchester.

González insisted that "the challenge is to attract a holidaymaker who travels to the destination throughout the year and stays longer" and has pledged a firm commitment to this market, which will result in an increase of 1.5 million euros in the investment that the province of Malaga will make in the United Kingdom next year. This is an increase of 500,000 euros compared to the investment made this year. She also said that the forecasts confirm that this market continues to respond to the diversity of the Costa del Sol's offer.