Record-breaking year for Malaga Airport with 22 million passengers passing through its terminals

A record-breaking 22.3 million passengers passed through the terminal gates at Malaga Airport last year, official data from the national airport operator, Aena, shows.

The Costa del Sol airfield finished 2023 as the fourth busiest airport in Spain and the one with the highest growth compared to 2019. Aena said Malaga's success lies in "the good showing of both domestic and foreign tourists".

A total 161,684 flights touched down, while airport staff handled the highest volume of checked baggage in the site's history, exceeding 5.5 million suitcases, the data also showed. The record-breaking 22.3 million is 12.5 per cent more passengers than in 2019, which until now was the best year in the airport's history, and 21.1 per cent more than in 2022.

President and CEO of Aena, Maurici Lucena, said: "these record figures in air transport are fundamental for the economic and social development of Spain. We should all congratulate ourselves for them. Also the airlines that, like Aena, suffered the harsh consequences of the pandemic, and are now carrying more passengers than ever".

Malaga Airport air traffic controllers managed more flights every month of the year in 2023 than in 2019, with historic increases in aircraft traffic, particularly last November and December, with 26 per cent and 25.3 per cent more, according to the data.

The busiest month of the year was July, with 2,432,411 passengers touching down, some 12,000 more than in the middle of August.

The British market accounted for 5,343,869 passengers, followed by Germany, with 1,646,777, the Netherlands (1,311,933), France (1,274,737) and Italy (1,027,799).