Costa del Sol airport takes off and is gateway for 75.5% of all Germans visiting Andalucía region

Pilar Martínez

Berlin

Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 12:17

Malaga Airport is the gateway for more than seven out of every ten Germans arriving in Andalucía (75.5%), which accounts for almost 7% of the national share. The facility received almost one million German passengers last year, growing by 19.3% compared with 2023 and exceeding the 2019 figures by 24.7%.

The German market took off strongly in 2024 - a continuing upward trend expected to last throughout 2025. However, this will happen without increased air connectivity between Malaga and Germany during this year's high season, as Francisco Salado, president of Turismo Costa del Sol, has stated. According to him, airlines will offer 712,000 seats this summer, which represents a slight decrease of 1.6% compared to last year.

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Airlines have programmed direct flights with 14 German cities, adding Münster to this year's list and removing Dortmund. A total of 10,441 seats will be available between Malaga and the German destinations in question. The cities with the greatest number of seats are Karlsruhe, Bremen and Stuttgart.

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Salado has stated that five airlines will operate an average of 119 flights between Malaga and Germany per week. The lowest number of flights will be in March (92 flights per week), while the highest will be in August (129). According to Turismo's president, searches for flights to the Costa del Sol keep growing at a rate of 27%. Between 1 January and 12 February there were 3.1 million searches from Germany.

To strengthen its position in this market, the Costa del Sol has a budget of one million euros for promotional activities in Germany - 42% more than last year. Germany is the second most important international market, after the UK, growing at a rate above the international average.

Salado also highlighted Malaga's position in the ranking of Spanish provinces with the highest number of passengers from Germany. The Costa del Sol was in fifth place, preceded by the Balearic Islands, Las Palmas, Barcelona and Madrid. "The Costa del Sol has managed to be the second province with the best growth between 2023 and 2024, surpassed only by Alicante," he said.

Improving connectivity is one of the challenges for presenters at this year's edition of the ITB travel fair in Berlin. At the event, Salado highlighted the high number that the German market recorded in Malaga province in 2024: some 803,000 tourists and an income of almost 1.3 billion euros, or an increase of 9.9% and 15.4%, respectively, compared with 2023. "Expectations are high and we are confident that we will continue to grow in terms of revenue and visitors," he stated.