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File image of the first landing at Malaga Airport of this summer's direct flight from. New York. Salvador Salas
Spanish government supports calls for all-year-round direct flights between Malaga Airport and New York
Travel

Spanish government supports calls for all-year-round direct flights between Malaga Airport and New York

During this first summer of operation United Airlines offered a total of 17,000 seats to connect the Costa del Sol and Newark Airport

Pilar Martínez

Malaga

Tuesday, 3 October 2023, 15:04

The Spanish government would like to see Malaga Airport's direct flight connection to New York in the USA maintained all-year-round.

The new comes shortly after the last United Airline plane of the summer season flew out of Malaga as planned on 28 September opening a period of uncertainty on the Costa del Sol until the company decides whether it will repeat the transatlantic route next summer.

The Junta de Andalucía's tourism minister Arturo Bernal told SUR that according to the data "Malaga is in a position to achieve extending the flight all year round and even increasing the frequency to more than three flights a week".

And Spain's acting tourism minister Héctor Gómez said the national government also supported the route's extension, so that it "is not only seasonal, but can be more permanent". After pointing out the importance of the North American market and considering what a benchmark city Malaga has become in the travel sector, he said that "there is every willingness to collaborate so that this direct air connection is maintained".

"The feelings are good. We have had different meetings with the company (United Airlines) and that is the impression, but a final decision has not yet been taken," Bernal told SUR.

He revealed that the summer flights contributed to the large number of Americans staying in hotels in Andalucía, with an average stay of five days, totalling 450,000 in the first half of the year, compared to 371,000 last year.

During the first high season of operation United Airlines had offered 17,000 seats to connect Malaga Airport with Newark Airport in New York. The 52 return flights operated with a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with capacity for 169 passengers, 16 of them in its Polaris business class.

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surinenglish Spanish government supports calls for all-year-round direct flights between Malaga Airport and New York