Malaga airport is the happy arrival and sad departure point of most UK based visitors to Spain's Costa del Sol, although Granada, Seville and Gibraltar airports are further possibilities depending on your final destination. Stepping out from the aircraft onto the air-bridge, and the rush of warm, sweet, sticky scented air hits your nostrils with a wake up call of ‘hey, you’re here!’ Despite the many visits we’ve made, we never tire of this moment of arrival.
This section is designed to share tips and information that will help you make your transit through the airport, in whatever direction, easier. If you don’t find the information you want then why not join our Forum?, and ask questions of our 100+ members who have a wide knowledge of the area.
Malaga Airport is one of the busiest in Spain, and currently 96th in the world, carrying varying traffic levels depending on the season, and taking flights from all over Europe. It handles over 12 million passengers a year and receives flights from over 120 destinations. No less than 23 UK airports have regular flights to Malaga.
The airport did consist of two terminals. However it is now undergoing massive expansion to create a new terminal and a second runway thus significantly increasing it's capacity.
Due to this building work, we will keep updating this section, however things are changing on a daily basis and we cannot guarantee that all the information will be totally up-to-date. Secondly, the road traffic in the area becomes very congested, and you need to factor this into your travel arrangements. In concept, the terminal building is rather like a large oblong facing the runway on two key levels. On the lower floor there is the arrivals zone with the baggage hall and arrivals area. On the upper floor is the departure zone which leads through security, to a large glazed area overlooking the runway and aircraft parking ramps. On a mezzanine floor above this is the duty free area – more about that later.
At either side of the piers are additional large parking areas for the aircraft. The vast majority of UK inbound aircraft are allocated to pier C. There is quite a long walk from the planes to the baggage hall and anyone with mobility problems should tell the aircraft crew, but many chauffer driven buggies are available to transport you to baggage reclaim.
There are also several travelators. If you are one of the first passengers off the plane, don’t be fooled if the travelators are not working. They have a beam system which you break as you walk onto them, and they will then start automatically. During your walk to passport control there are murals showing the Sea Life Centre at Benalmadena, and then wonderful large photographs of the resorts and mountain villages on the Costa del Sol.
Before entering the baggage hall you will pass through passport control. Many UK passports are now scanned through the computer by the Guardia Civil, and this can lead to a few hold-ups if many planes arrive together.
On passing through passport control you have a choice of a spiral walkway, or just past this, (and missed by many), a short escalator down into the baggage hall. At the bottom of the walkway or escalator there are toilets directly in front of you.
Also at the bottom of the escalator is a large TV screen which shows which luggage belt your hold baggage will be on. Like all airports, waiting for luggage can take some time. We’ve experienced receiving luggage in 10 minutes or up to 1 hour depending on how busy the airport is. If you are being greeted this will need factoring in. There are numerous free luggage trolleys available.
After collecting your luggage, you leave the baggage hall at the opposite end that you came in. If you have hired a car, many of the car hire offices are accessed by a ramp to the right immediately before the exit doors. If your car hire operator has told you to exit in the normal way, you will find their representatives waiting, holding name cards immediately by the exit doors.
You exit into the arrivals hall, and if being greeted by friends etc., they will be waiting here. Within the arrivals hall is a small newsagents / general shop, and to your left a bar/café area. Those on organised holidays will also be met by their holiday reps at this point, and ushered into coaches etc. For the independent traveller who is not hiring a car, there are three choices, (excluding walking and that would not be advised). These are taxi, bus or train.
Getting to and from the airport.
Taxi: Taxi’s are available from immediately outside the arrivals hall. Leave the baggage hall, through the two sets of glass doors and turn right through another set of glass doors, and the well stocked taxi rank is right in front of you. Taxi’s usually carry up to four passengers. The taxi’s that pick up at the airport are all Malaga city taxi’s. They have the franchise. They have good local knowledge of the towns and villages, but not as good as some more local drivers. Benalmadena taxi’s are not allowed to operate from the airport but you may find some upstairs at the departure floor dropping passengers off.
The fare is roughly €20 - €25 (max), depending on the time of day and day of the week, into the centre of Benalmadena / Arroyo. Usually, if you offer €20, they accept that as including a tip. If you go out a little further to Torrequebrada, then expect a few euros more.
We still hear of people being charged extortionate amounts by the rare, rogue taxi driver. Please protect yourself and don’t pay these rates. If in doubt go into your apartment / hotel reception on arrival in Benalmadena and ask them. Otherwise take the taxi licence number and report the matter. Everyone is told to check the fare before you leave the airport, but with language problems that’s not always as easy as it sounds. The above information should be a useful guide.
Without doubt, if you haven’t got access to a vehicle and you have heavy luggage or any mobility problems, the taxi option is the best way.
Train: There is an excellent and improving rail service from the airport to Benalmadena / Arroyo de la Miel station. The railway station is up in Arroyo de la Miel, and although it’s all downhill into Benalmadena it can still be a long walk. You can combine your journey by train / taxi. There is a taxi rank immediately outside the railway station in Arroyo.
To get to the airport station from the airport itself, the best way at the moment is to leave the baggage arrivals hall heading slightly right to take the stairs / lift to the departure hall. Once there, walk the length of the departure hall leaving by the last set of major doors on your left. The railway station is well signposted throughout, and you will walk through a floor-marked path through the multi-storey car park. Carry on over a footbridge and ramp that takes you to the station. Trains leave the Airport to Benalmadena every half hour at 04 and 34 minutes past the hour. The journey takes 18 minutes and the cost €1.15 per person. Website is here.
Please note; you need to buy tickets from the ticket machine at the entrance to the airport railway station.This takes coins and €5 notes only.
Car Hire: Airport to Benalmadena: (Map here) There is currently a great deal of work ongoing at Malaga airport to improve facilities. You will need to take this into account particularly when you return to the airport to return your hire car.
Getting your hire car from the majority of companies that use the airport is relatively easy, as the rental offices are in the basement of the airport terminal buildings. Once you have collected your luggage from the carousels head towards the automatic glass doors at the opposite end of the baggage hall from where you entered it. Here you need to make a choice. If your supplier has told you that the rental office is within the airport, take the steep ramp on your right just before the glass doors. If not, you’ll be met just outside the glass doors by representatives holding up boards with your name on it.
Those of you who use car hire companies that are off the airport site, should try and follow signs to Torremolinos and pick up this route. You should see the large San Miguel brewery which should help. As there are so many car hire offices, it is difficult to predict your start point. For car hire companies within the lower ground floor of the airport, and this is the majority, you pick up your car from the lower basement floor of the multi-storey car park. Leave the car park and turn left.
You need to be working your way across the lanes to be over in the right . Leave the airport following the signs for Malaga. You will come to a big roundabout just before the San Miguel brewery. Continue straight on following the Malaga signs.
After this roundabout, stop following the signs to Malaga and pick up the signs to Torremolinos. The Malaga traffic moves to the left hand lane and we stay in the right, branching off to the right and joining a busy three lane highway. From here on we stay on this road, the N340. You will pass through many traffic light junctions and eventually onto the Torremolinos by-pass. but just keep straight on at roundabouts and traffic light junctions.
On your right you will pass the Aquapark and Crocodile Park. After this straight forward at the traffic lights and straight forward at the next roundabout.
At the next roundabout you have a choice. For those heading into Arroyo de la Miel, take the second turning and follow this road all the way into Arroyo. For those going to Benalmadena Costa, take the third exit (11 o’clock) down the hill. At the next roundabout take the first exit, to your right, and you’re on the main road into Benalmadena Costa.
These are relatively easy journeys of around 6 to 7 miles depending where you are in the area, and allows you to become comfortable driving abroad in case you’re not use to it.
Departing the airport - UK Bound.
A repeat word of note here about the building works. Leave extra time if arriving by car / taxi as there can be significant delays at peak times.
If you intend to arrive by hire car follow signs for the airport, pass the San Miguel factory, straight forward at the roundabout and head into the far left lane. Hire cars are directed back into the lower floor of the multi-storey car park.
Arriving by train is the reverse of the directions given above. Alight the train, follow the signs over the temporary footbridge and through the upper floor of the multi-storey car park into the departure hall.
Taxi’s will drop you off right outside the one of the sets of three doors into the departure hall. Entering the departure hall you get the first real impression of the size of the airport. It is vast! There are three sets of double automatic doors at the entrance one at either end and the third in the centre. Immediately inside each you’ll see banks of information screens for flight departures. It shows, in chronological order, the flight number, flight time, embarkation time, destination, checking-in desk number and any information in relation to the flight. The desks number from left to right as you face them from about 210 to 260 or 270. There is a large number over each checking in desk to guide you.
A word of note here, if your airline has a number of flights to destinations at a similar time they may have a bank of 6-8 desks open and accept checking in for any of their destinations. If however the check-in desks are dedicated to just your flight, then it will not usually open until precisely 2 hours before the stated departure time. This leads to some interesting dynamics. The Spanish know this and don’t turn up more than 2 hours before, and seem to enable the whole check in procedure in relative comfort. The good old Brits however all turn up early, and you can tell the British flights by the queues of people that build up. Still, better safe than sorry and we’re good at queuing so why not get some more practice in.
In the departure hall there are a number of coffee stalls and the airlines either have their own offices for ticket sales or their agents offices. There are also a couple of stand-alone stalls where cases can be placed onto a machine that wraps them in cling-film to protect them. Finally, if you’re travelling in the run up to, or around the Christmas/New Year/Epiphany, there is a large model of the Holy Land and the nativity scene just inside the central entrance doors.
Once you have checked in and received your boarding cards, you move forward at the side of the check-in desks towards the security x-ray area. Here you will need to show your boarding pass and take off any metal items and place them in the plastic trays to travel through the x-ray machines. Security here is tight with many dip tests.
Once through security there are a large number of things you can do to while away your time whilst waiting for your flight. Immediately in front of you, and at various points, there are banks of televisions with the latest flight information. From this point Pier B is to your left and Pier C to your right. As mentioned earlier most, but not all flights to the UK tend to go through Pier C – from this point the TV’s to the right of this central point give information on flights from Pier C, and the opposite, through Pier B on the left.
Also in front of you a travelators that take you up to the mezzanine floor. Here, there is the large Aldeasa Duty free shop.
There are large number of smaller boutiques ranging from local produce, bookshops, (with an excellent range of information books in English on the CDS), CD shops, Svarowski and china shops, plus clothes and confectionary shops.
Also in this area in a large cafeteria with sandwiches, drinks plus hot and cold food. There is also a second drinks and sandwich stall in the same area.
Moving back downstairs, there are large seating areas which provide panoramic views of the runway and arriving / departing aircraft. There is a VIP lounge just to the right of security, (the last report on this was that it cost £15 to enter for 3 hours with complimentary food and drink). Finally, there is an Upper Crust shop which provides excellent sandwiches at the entrance to Pier B.
Smoking - the whole of the airport is designated as no smoking by Royal decree, with the exception of several dedicated smoking points. This law is enforced in the normal Spanish way – sparsely, but when it is with significant fines.
Use of phones. – Coin phones are provided by Telefonica ‘air-side’ within the airport. The tariffs are increased by a significant amount for the ‘captive audience’.
Please keep watching the screens for updated information. When called to the gate, watch for whether it is from pier B or C. It is better not to move onto the piers before the actual gate number is allocated, as you need to pass through passport control as you enter either pier, and once through it is difficult to leave should your plane be allocated a gate on the other Pier. On both piers, B & C, there are bars and refreshments available, and small Aldeasa duty free shops for your final chance to purchase any last minute presents.
Passengers are gathered together at the various gates and enter the airplane via walkways, or are bussed to their aircraft.
Finally, the pre-dominant takeoff direction is over the sea. Those seated on the right hand site of the aircraft will be rewarded with a beautiful, final view of Benalmadena just after take off. Don’t worry, you will surely return!
Malaga Airport Location
Malaga airport is situated in the Guadalhorce Valley, 8km, (5 miles) to the west of Malaga itself. It is well served with a regular direct bus services to Malaga, (with access to other destinations from there), and also Marbella. The half hourly local train service takes passengers east to Malaga city and west through Torremolinos, Benalmadena and Arroyo de la Miel, to Fuengirola. More detailed information on transport facilities is provided later in the section.
Arriving at the airport – inbound from UK.
Those of you with window seats will enjoy some spectacular views of the mountain ranges to the north of the airport as you descend into Malaga airport. Aircraft approach from either the mountains from the landside, or fly out over the sea and turn to approach the runway. The airport itself is divided into two wings or piers designated B and C, each with several air bridges.
For live flight arrivals and departures go here
