Malaga Airport expansion project will show first signs of progress in 2029

At the start of the peak season, Malaga Airport is preparing for one of its most significant transitions, both in operations and management team.

Pedro Bendala, who has led the airport's management during a period of unprecedented growth, following the shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will leave his post on 1 July to take on new responsibilities at Spanish airport operator Aena's headquarters.

His departure, after seven years in the position, coincides with a boom in tourism for Malaga province, with record-breaking summer seasons year after year.

It also coincides with the initial stages of a major expansion project, the construction of which should have fully kicked-off by 2029.

In an interview with SUR, Bendala stated that there are still "at least two years of processing and drafting the project plans, plus the time it takes to put the construction work out to tender".

"I think we'll be able to see construction under way by mid-2029," he said. Bendala explained that the next step is to begin working on drafting the project and, in parallel, on the environmental study.

He said that the work may begin on several fronts, in different phases, without impacting current services or air capacity.

"We need to communicate with the public, users and airlines to assure them that the service they know and currently have will maintain exactly the same quality and capacity," Bendala stated.

The airport expansion will cost around 1.5 billion euros. The facility will almost double its current surface area. The new boarding pier for flights from outside the Schengen area will further improve air connectivity.

"We're going to have an entirely new boarding pier, the one parallel to the runway near the river, with 24 passenger boarding bridges. That means it could accommodate up to 24 narrow-body aircraft, like an Airbus A320 or a Boeing 737 Max, or 12 wide-body aircraft, such as an A350, a 787 or a 777," Bendala said.

The decision, however, rests with the airlines and depends on the fleets they purchase and the routes they choose. "There are high-occupancy connections, for example, the flight coming from Istanbul comes with a wide-body aircraft, sometimes the flights coming from Switzerland or Dublin do too," he said.

Now almost halfway through June, Bendala has reviewed expectations for the summer. He has high hopes for the peak season, albeit with more uncertainty than in previous years due to international conflicts.

Even so, he said that the forecasts for the coming months confirm that the Costa del Sol remains a highly reliable destination for international markets. "The first months of the year have been good. We remain optimistic about the summer based on the airlines' forecasts," he said.

Despite global macroeconomic turbulence, the province is holding strong. "We don't deny that there is a degree of uncertainty, greater than in other times. But Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport is responding quite well so far. Airlines have trust in this destination and this airport," Bendala said.

Despite the airport's record-breaking performance month after month, the soon-to-be former director predicts a natural shift towards stability. "Economic cycles aren't eternal. We've had a long and positive cycle and it's not going to turn negative. But I think the growth rates we've had in recent years will be considerably more moderate from now on," he said.

Bendala sees this slowdown as an opportunity for consolidation: "I personally think it's reasonable and good that it's this way, that it's more orderly, more steady growth."

Nevertheless, the immediate future will bring another historic milestone. "We'll break records again this summer. Yes, this summer and so far this year we've been breaking them."

A key pillar of Bendala's management has been market diversification and the recovery of long-haul routes. Connectivity with the Middle East is a clear example of this goal. "Even the flights to the Middle East that we've reinstated are seeing very good occupancy rates."

Bendala's departure on 1 July marks the beginning of a new professional chapter within Aena, closely linked to the design of the future expansion of Malaga Airport and his involvement in the expansions of Barajas and El Prat airports.

"If I had the opportunity to learn and grow here, well, I want to give back to the organisation everything I've learnt. I'm grateful for the opportunity they're giving me to continue progressing," Bendala said.

He acknowledges that these seven years in Malaga have left their mark. "I think I'm a better professional now thanks to this daily contact with reality, with the everyday problems and with the ability of the airport's teams to solve the issues that arise. Then there are the human relationships. The advantage I've had here in Malaga is that the character of the people here, on the one hand, and the size of the city and the surrounding area, on the other, allow you to establish very high-quality relationships," Bendala concluded.