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Over 2,400,000 passengers past through Malaga Airport for best ever August performance

13th September 2023

Over 2,400,000 passengers past through Malaga Airport for best ever August performance
Malaga Airport has achieved its best-ever August performance, with a remarkable 2.4 million passengers passing through its terminals. The airport experienced its busiest day in terms of air traffic control and runway activity, with a total of 583 aircraft landings and take-offs at the Costa del Sol airfield.

The long queues at check-in counters and the influx of passengers in the arrivals area at Malaga Airport during August have left a lasting impact on the latest data provided by airport operator Aena. This data confirms that the airport has set a new record for August, surpassing 2.4 million passengers. This figure represents an impressive increase of nearly 18% compared to the previous year and is almost ten percentage points higher than the record year of 2019. This surge in passenger numbers brings the total passenger traffic for the first eight months of the year to nearly fifteen million (14,921,595), which is 21.5% higher than the same period last year and 9.3% higher than the pre-pandemic year.

These statistics solidify Malaga Airport's position as the fourth most important airport in Spain, following Madrid, Barcelona, and Palma de Mallorca, and it leads in terms of growth rate among major airports. Notably, its growth rate far exceeds the national average. Aena airports, as a whole, recorded an all-time high number of passengers in August, reaching 29.8 million, marking a 9.5% increase compared to the same month in 2022 and a 1.4% increase compared to 2019. This trend continues when examining the cumulative figures for the first eight months of the year, with Spain's airports registering a total of 189 million passengers, reflecting an 18.7% increase compared to 2022 and a 1.2% increase compared to the pre-pandemic period.

It's worth noting that among the top four airports in terms of passenger volume, only Malaga and Palma de Mallorca have fully recovered their pre-Covid-19 levels, while Madrid and Barcelona still face declines of 3.5% and 7.2%, respectively.

Aena emphasised that the outstanding performance of both domestic and international traffic contributed to Malaga's impressive passenger figures, with an average of 78,034 daily passengers at the airport. International flights carried 2,007,783 passengers, marking an 18.9% increase from the previous year, while domestic traffic also experienced significant growth, rising by 13.1%.

In terms of international traffic, the British market was the most significant, with 615,754 passengers, followed by Germany with 187,250, France with 120,567, Ireland with 115,610, and Italy with 112,884. Notably, arrivals from Portugal doubled, and traffic with Morocco increased by 50.2%.

The bustling activity was not limited to the airport terminals, as the runways also saw intense activity. In August, there were 16,945 flights that landed and took off, representing an 11.8% increase compared to August 2022. Of these flights, 13,244 were to or from international destinations. For the year as a whole, the airport handled 107,945 landings and take-offs, marking an 11.3% increase from the same period the previous year.

The busiest day of the record-breaking month for passengers was noted as August 6, with 84,371 passengers, while August 20 saw the peak day for air traffic control and runway activity, with a total of 583 landings and take-offs.


Published by David

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