--- title: "Malaga-Costa del Sol airport: security and excellence since 1919" description: Malaga-Costa del Sol airport is the biggest in Andalusia and the fourth biggest in terms of passenger numbers in Spain. image: https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hubfs/a-12-1.png --- [DE | ](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/de) [FR | ](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/fr) [EN | ](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en) [ES | ](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/es) Blog:  [> Back to visitcostadelsol.com | ](https://www.visitcostadelsol.com/) [![fondo_logo.png](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-files/fondo_logo.png?width=567&height=125&name=fondo_logo.png "fondo_logo.png")](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/es) - [Activities](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/adventure-activities) - [Culture](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/culture) - [Holidays](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/holidays) - [Gastronomy](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/gastronomy) - [Experiences](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/experiences) - [Golf](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/golf) - [Professional](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/professional) # Malaga-Costa del Sol airport: security and excellence since 1919 ![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hubfs/a-12-1.png)  Tags: [MICE](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/mice) The province of Malaga boasts excellent connections by land, sea and air. [Malaga-Costa del Sol airport](https://www.visitcostadelsol.com/plan/how-to-reach-malaga/malaga-costa-del-sol-airport-p14621) has **some of the highest passenger numbers in Spain**. Cities including London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, New York and Moscow have a direct link with the airport.  In terms of passenger traffic, the airport is currently the **fourth busiest in Spain, the third busiest in the Iberian Peninsula and the 20 busiest in the European Union**. The hub is located in the Churriana district of the city and operated by AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea). ![travelling to Malaga](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/b-12-1.png?width=730&name=b-12-1.png)   In 2019, Malaga-Costa del Sol airport welcomed 19,856,299 passengers (16,851,281 on international flights), counting a total of 144,920 take-offs and landings. These figures make Malaga airport a major gateway for tourism into the Costa del Sol and the whole of Andalusia, as **around 85% of all international flights land at the hub** and it is the only airport to offer such a wide range of destinations.    ## **The features of Malaga-Costa del Sol airport** Malaga airport has **two runways**. One of these is used exclusively for take-offs while the other is dedicated to landings to facilitate air traffic. There are **three terminals** - 1, 2 and 3 - which are interconnected so passengers can avoid going outside and get to their gate with ease.  **Over sixty airlines** operate at the airport providing daily connections to twenty Spanish cities and over a hundred destinations in Europe, primarily the United Kingdom, Central Europe and Scandinavia, but also the biggest cities in Eastern Europe.  ![malaga airport ](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/c-12-1.png?width=730&name=c-12-1.png)   ## **A brief history ** Malaga airport was founded in 1919 to meet France’s need to create a commercial air link that connected the country and its colonies, passing through Spain. Following a number of test flights, on the **1 September 1919**, Didier Daurat, the first ever director of Malaga airfield, opened the first commercial airline connecting Toulouse and Casablanca via Malaga.  In 1936, Malaga airport became an **airbase** and a year later the home of **Escuela de Especialistas del Ejército del Aire**. By the year 1946, civil operations had been reinstalled at the airport. Connections to national and international destinations were now the norm and a couple of years later a passenger terminal was built. In 1960 the facilities were modernised, the runway was extended and a new terminal was constructed and opened in 1968. Following the growing demand for non-scheduled flights, in 1972 a **terminal for non-scheduled traffic** was created. In 2011, Malaga airport became the headquarters of Helitt Líneas Aéreas and an operational base for airlines including Ryanair, Vueling and Norwegian. Until the 6 June 2011, the name of the hub was Malaga airport, when it officially became Malaga-Costa del Sol airport.  ![d-12-1](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/d-12-1.png?width=730&name=d-12-1.png)Fuente: Málaga hoy   ## **Malaga airport and MICE tourism ** The excellent infrastructure of Malaga-Costa del Sol airport and its boundless connections to a wide variety of destinations is one of the reasons why the province of Malaga is **one of** [business travellers](https://www.visitcostadelsol.com/convention-bureau/?_ga=2.120981640.126660170.1635141899-1250249413.1599472069)**’ favourite destinations**. Cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, New York and Moscow - among many others - have a direct link to Malaga airport. What about you? Have you ever been to Malaga airport?  [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/1995901/2b61bcf4-79a6-449c-bd96-ba7df5499e7d.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/1995901/2b61bcf4-79a6-449c-bd96-ba7df5499e7d) 25 October 2021 [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.visitacostadelsol.com%2Fen%2Fmalaga-costa-del-sol-airport%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.visitacostadelsol.com%2Fen%2Fmalaga-costa-del-sol-airport%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.visitacostadelsol.com%2Fen%2Fmalaga-costa-del-sol-airport%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Malaga-Costa%20del%20Sol%20airport%3A%20security%20and%20excellence%20since%201919) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Échale%20un%20vistazo%20a%20%20https%3A%2F%2Fblog.visitacostadelsol.com%2Fen%2Fmalaga-costa-del-sol-airport%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Échale%20un%20vistazo%20a%20https%3A%2F%2Fblog.visitacostadelsol.com%2Fen%2Fmalaga-costa-del-sol-airport%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ## Search in our blog This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ## All about the Costa del Sol in your inbox Submit your email address and receive exclusive information and great offers about the Costa del Sol. ### Categories - [mice](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/en/topic/mice) [![Nueva llamada a la acción](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/1995901/580fd1de-87fe-45ea-aa93-7c8dbccbc9f6.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/1995901/580fd1de-87fe-45ea-aa93-7c8dbccbc9f6) ## Related posts - [Español](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/es/aeropuerto-malaga-costa-del-sol) - Inglés - [Alemán](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/de/malaga-costa-del-sol-flughafen) - [Francés](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/fr/aeroport-malaga-costa-del-sol) - [Noruego Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/nor) - [Sueco Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/se) - [Danés Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/dk) - [Finlandés Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/fin) - [Ruso Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/ru) - [Chino Blog](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/ch) ![costa_del_sol_logo_color](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hubfs/costa_del_sol_logo_color.png "costa_del_sol_logo_color") ### Follow us on social media [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/landing-assets/ih%20Madrid/facebook@2x.png?width=32&name=facebook@2x.png)](https://www.facebook.com/feelcostadelsol) [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/landing-assets/ih%20Madrid/instagram@2x.png?width=32&name=instagram@2x.png)](https://www.instagram.com/vivecostadelsol_/) [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/twitter.png?width=32&name=twitter.png)](https://x.com/feelcostadelsol) [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hubfs/youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/user/visitcostadelsol) [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avantine/tik-toklogo.png?width=32&name=tik-toklogo.png)](https://www.tiktok.com/@vivecostadelsol) [![](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hs-fs/hubfs/linkedin%20(1).png?width=32&name=linkedin%20(1).png)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/67939875/admin/dashboard/) ![Rectángulo 21](https://blog.visitacostadelsol.com/hubfs/Rect%C3%A1ngulo%2021.jpg "Rectángulo 21") © Turismo y Planificación Costa del Sol S.L.U. 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