This summer is set to see a significant increase in flights to and from Andalucía, with the region’s airports predicted to experience a greater rise in aircraft movements than either Spain’s Canary or Balearic Islands.
Javier Gándara, President of the Association of Airlines (ALA), stated that Malaga Airport is expected to drive much of the growth in travel to Andalusian destinations. He forecast a 14% rise in seats flying to and from the Costa del Sol during the high season, compared to the record year of 2019, and highlighted that Malaga’s popularity is not just linked to holiday and urban tourism, but also business travel.
Data from the ALA, updated as of 14th April, showed almost 25.6 million seats available for travel to and from Andalusian airports this summer. This represents an 8.2% increase from the record season of 2019, and almost one point more than the growth forecast by airlines in the Canary Islands.
Gándara commented, “Andalucía, the Canary Islands, and Balearic Islands are growing more because of the country’s success as a tourist destination. In addition, these regions have a model that is not just sun and sand. We expect this trend to continue,” However, forecasts for Madrid and Barcelona remain below pre-crisis levels.
Gándara cited United Airlines’ commitment to open a new direct connection with Malaga this summer and interest from the American markets as contributing to the optimistic predictions. He was confident that this summer would not see issues such as long queues at passport control or flight cancellations, which marred the previous high season.
However, Gándara did express concern about other European airports. “Spain as a destination is responding very well to the level of traffic. The rest of European airports worry us. There are saturated infrastructures such as Amsterdam. We hope we are wrong, but this summer there may be problems at European airports,” he said.
Gándara also warned of an increase in ticket prices but did not estimate by how much. He urged airlines to keep fares affordable for everyone at a time when “there is a great desire to go on holiday”.