More than 4,600 flights will operate on Malaga Airport's runways this Easter, and these will be the busiest days

The Easter holiday period will be felt at Malaga Airport, where 4,606 flights are expected to operate from this Friday (22 March) until 1 April, a figure that is 554 fewer than those that landed and took off last year on this first major holiday of the year, according to data from airport operator Aena. Of these, 3,526 are flights with international connections.

The fact that this Holy Week falls in March, when airlines work with low season schedules, limits air capacity. This year, none of the days that comprise this first avalanche of tourists of the holiday season reaches 500 flights, whereas last year this happened on two occasions.

Although Aena has not provided the expected volume of passengers since the Covid-19 pandemic, travel agencies point out that the estimate of the number of flyers who will pass through these facilities on the Costa del Sol is around 785,000. This is based on the average capacity of the aircraft operating on the Costa del Sol runways is around 200 seats and the average occupancy rate is 85%.

The busiest day will be Easter Sunday, 31 March, with a forecast of 490 flights, followed by Monday 1 April, which is still a public holiday in several regions of Spain, and on which 483 flight operations have been scheduled. On the other hand, on the actual day of the start of the Easter holidays for many, on Friday 22 March, 405 planes will land and take off on the coast. On Saturday 23rd the activity will climb to 436 flights. Once again, the main intensity will be felt on the main days of Holy Week, from Maundy Thursday onwards, with 407 flight operations; 404 on Good Friday; and 432 on Saturday 31 March.

The activity at the airport mirrors the good forecasts for Malaga province from hoteliers, tourist accommodation, restaurants and the rural tourism sector.