All aboard for a warmer wintertime connected nan Costa del Sol. Credit: Portuguese Gravity via Unsplash.
Malaga becomes a clear victor arsenic Ryanair reshuffles its Spain strategy, adding 9 caller routes and expanding its wintertime schedule while cutting capacity elsewhere.
Costa del Sol reaching caller heights
Ryanair has unveiled its Winter 2025/26 schedule from Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport, adding 9 caller destinations and boosting capacity by 7 per cent according to nan hose – a move that firmly positions nan airdrome arsenic 1 of Spain’s biggest winners successful a play of mixed fortunes for nan airline’s Spanish network.
The low-cost bearer will now link Malaga pinch Pardubice, Ostrava, Brno (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Lübeck, Münster (Germany), Stockholm Västerås (Sweden), Teesside (UK) and Warsaw (Poland), bringing nan full number of wintertime routes to 83.
Most of nan caller services will run 2 to 4 times per week, pinch Warsaw seeing nan astir predominant nexus astatine six play flights.
Ryanair says its Malaga cognition will beryllium “largely” served by 15 based aircraft, representing a €1.5 cardinal finance and allegedly supporting complete 6,800 section jobs.
A communicative of 2 Spains
While Malaga’s runway is buzzing, not each Spanish airports stock nan aforesaid outlook. Ryanair has confirmed it will trim astir 1 cardinal seats nationwide this winter, citing what it calls “excessive” increases successful AENA (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation) airdrome charges – a declare that nan usability powerfully disputes.
Airports successful bluish and cardinal Spain, including Girona and Valladolid, will spot reduced frequencies aliases paused routes, while Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife look arsenic nan network’s agleam spots.
“The Costa del Sol remains a strategical market,” Ryanair’s Spain Communications Manager Alejandra Ruiz said, pointing to beardown British and Northern European request that “keeps hotels and restaurants engaged done nan winter.”
Who benefits from nan caller routes?
The expanded schedule offers clear advantages for British expats and Northern European winter-sun travellers. New connections for illustration Teesside-Malaga, extended year-round aft a successful motorboat successful March, supply an affordable flight from nan UK’s darker months, pinch fares starting from €24.99 1 way.
For Central European visitors, nan caller flights from Bratislava, Brno and Ostrava unfastened caller inbound markets, giving section tourism businesses a logic to smile. Tourism information already show Malaga starring Spain’s maturation charts this year, pinch complete 15 cardinal passengers recorded successful nan first 7 months of 2025 – a emergence of astir 8 per cent compared pinch 2024.
What it means, who wins, and who loses
Analysts propose nan move underscores Malaga’s resilience arsenic a year-round tourism hub, buoyed by infrastructure, world links and accordant request from nan UK, Germany and Scandinavia. AENA information show nan airdrome continues to climb toward record-breaking yearly postulation figures, making it 1 of Europe’s astir move mid-size gateways.
Elsewhere, however, regions losing Ryanair routes look nan other story: less flights, little exposure, and perchance weaker wintertime tourism flows.
With bookings now unfastened done March 2026, travellers eager to unafraid debased fares would do good to book early – and find those aged swimming trunks successful nan backmost of nan wardrobe.
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