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ARCHIVED - More than 600,000 seats on UK-Malaga flights in May, June and July as sector awaits UK Gov. decision
Almost a quarter of the passengers expected to fly into Málaga will be coming from the UK.
The Costa del Sol is looking anxiously, but hopefully, towards the summer season, the tourism sector in Málaga province waiting for the UK Government to decide at what point its nationals will be permitted to resume holidays abroad and under what conditions.
Hopes are high that the situation regarding the possible use of covid passports to reduce or remove the need to quarantine will be announced soon, enabling those wishing to travel this summer to make practical arrangements.
Flight information provided by the airlines for the May to July period includes over 600,000 seats for UK travellers. Altogether, there will be 2,294,345 seats available on flights into or out of Málaga-Costa del Sol airport in May, June and July, 1,862,293 of them to or from other countries.
While the figure is 32 per cent lower than for the same period in 2019, it does at least show that things are starting to pick up, Costa del Sol Tourism representative Margarita del Cid explained. “It’s a sign of reactivation of tourism in the province and allows us to hope for a return to a certain normality at a very important time of year for us,” she said.
The UK is the leading prospective source of visitors, as there are more than 615,000 seats available on flights to and from Málaga, 214 per cent more than in the same period last year.
Direct flights to the Costa del Sol will be running from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Doncaster, Bournemouth and Aberdeen.
Spain comes in second place, with a total of 432,052 seats to or from other parts of the country, 300 per cent more than in the same period last year, followed by France with 177,283 seats, up 387 per cent from last year. Next on the list is Holland, with 157,000 seats, up 156 per cent, then Germany with 151,000 seats, up 154 per cent.
Other markets with significant numbers of seats available are Ireland (86,754 seats, up 125 per cent), Italy (80,488 seats, up 262.3 per cent), Denmark (76,454 seats, up 310.4 per cent), Belgium (76,229 seats, up 132.2 per cent), Sweden (68,814 seats, up 26.7 per cent), Norway (68,673 seats, up 331.9 per cent), Switzerland (67,271 seats, up 292.3 per cent) and Morocco (52,905 seats, up 241.1 per cent).