€830 million approved for immediate airport expansion in Malaga – Costa del Sol

Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport’s major expansion has been approved with an investment of €830 million by Spain’s government, designed to raise annual capacity to a whopping 36 million passengers.

DORA III, Aena’s five-year airport planning programme for 2027-2031, has just achieved the investment. Malaga currently has capacity for around 30 million travellers, while the upgraded airport will have more room for passengers and border checks, maintaining in mind the amount of non-schengen holiday makers arriving, namely the Brits.

Terminal space is planned to grow from 80,000 to 140,000 square metres. Plans include a new non-Schengen pier, centralised passport controls, more aircraft boarding positions, larger security areas and a redesigned baggage-handling system. Shopping space will also increase by 41 per cent.

New taxiways, improved access roads and expanded parking are included, while the existing two runways are expected to handle the long-term demand.

Why such a big Internationals arrivals area

It is little surprise the government jumped to approve the investment given the latest figures on who is coming to the Malaga Province. Costa del Sol Airport handled over 3 million passengers in August alone, up 6.6 per cent on 2025. International traffic accounted for 2.57 million of those travellers, with the United Kingdom once again, by far the biggest foreign market.

A total of 747,000 passengers travelled on routes between Malaga and the UK during August. That was comfortably ahead of Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Brexit has clearly not ended the Costa del Sol’s appeal for British travellers. Direct flights connect Malaga with London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Leeds.

Gatwick was the airport’s busiest destination during June and July, with almost 260,000 passengers, while Stansted, Luton and other UK airports also featured strongly.

Malaga handled 19.32 million passengers between January and August 2026, 6.6 per cent more than during the same period last year.

British passengers account for the largest share of international traffic, making the expansion relevant to holidaymakers, homeowners and families travelling between the UK and the Costa del Sol.