One country accounts for roughly a quarter of everybody who passes through Malaga airport. British passengers numbered 6,149,697 in the year, three times the next market on the list.
The Aeropuerto de Málaga-Costa del Sol is the airport Aena operates for the province, and its annual statistics describe a terminal built around foreign traffic. Germany, in second place, contributes 2,012,019 passengers against the British 6,149,697, and the year closed at 26,760,549 passengers and 186,990 flights, up 7.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent on the year before. That first figure counts movements rather than people: a return trip counts twice.
How many British passengers fly through Malaga? 6,149,697 in the year, around 23 per cent of everyone passing through the airport and roughly three times the second market. Germany followed on 2,012,019, the Netherlands on 1,631,525, Italy on 1,397,672 and France on 1,386,610. Together those five countries supply about 47 per cent of all passengers.
Britain is not just first, it is a category of its own
The gap between first and second place is what makes this airport unusual. Reino Unido contributes 6,149,697 passengers; Alemania, in second, contributes 2,012,019.
Behind them come the Países Bajos with 1,631,525, Italy with 1,397,672 and France with 1,386,610. Add the five together and they reach 12,577,523, close to 47 per cent of the entire terminal.
The practical meaning for anyone living on this coast is concentration risk. Roughly one passenger in four is tied to a single country’s aviation market, so a disruption there registers in Malaga faster than anywhere else on the Spanish Mediterranean.
What the headline number counts
Aena reported 26,760,549 passengers and 186,990 flights for the year, up 7.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively. That first figure is routinely misread.
It counts passenger movements, not individuals. A visitor who lands at Malaga, spends a week on the coast and departs from the same terminal contributes two passengers to the total, and a connecting itinerary can contribute more.
The figure also includes people who are not visitors at all: residents flying for work or holidays, business travel, and passengers connecting onward. Comparing it directly with hotel guest counts therefore compares two different units, a point developed with the accommodation figures in when Malaga is busiest.
The airport’s first passenger terminal still stands a short walk from the current one and is now a free museum, described in the Málaga Aeronautical Museum.
The year in one table
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total passengers | 26,760,549 passengers |
| International passengers | 22,248,605 passengers |
| Domestic passengers | 4,465,870 passengers |
| Flights | 186,990 flights |
| Checked bags | 6,255,861 bags |
International traffic grew 7.8 per cent and domestic 5.5 per cent, so the balance tilted further outward during the year. International passengers work out at roughly 83 per cent of the total and domestic at 17 per cent.
One arithmetic note belongs with that table. The two published categories do not add up to the total: 46,074 passengers sit outside both, and the release does not say what they are. The gap is about two in a thousand, but the numbers are published that way.
July and December both broke records
The busiest month was July, with 2,866,642 passengers and 19,814 flights, which Aena described as the highest traffic in the airport’s history. Within it, domestic passengers reached 478,814, up 11.9 per cent, and international 2,385,851, up 7.3 per cent.
December set its own record at 1,681,268 passengers, up 6.8 per cent, across 12,657 operations. There the pattern reversed: international traffic rose 8.1 per cent to 1,358,999 while domestic stayed almost flat at 315,209, a rise of 0.4 per cent.
Those two months frame the year neatly. Summer brings the volume, winter proves the foreign market keeps coming, and Spanish domestic traffic is the smaller and steadier component in both.
One checked bag for every four passengers
The least quoted line in Aena’s release is the baggage count: 6,255,861 checked bags across the year.
Set against 26,760,549 passengers, that works out at roughly one checked bag per four travellers. The calculation is mine, and it is a portrait of the operation: short sectors, low-cost fares and cabin baggage as the norm.
It changes what arrival looks like. For most passengers the belt is irrelevant, so the queues that matter come before it at passport control and after it at the transport link, which is covered in Malaga airport to the city centre and getting around Malaga.
The figures rewritten every January
These figures come from Aena’s annual balance for 2025, released on 13 January 2026, and from its July report of 12 August 2025. Aena publishes monthly and annual statements, so the market ranking and the record months are rewritten every January.
The fastest-growing markets were a completely different list from the largest ones. Emiratos Árabes rose 75.7 per cent, Iceland 59.2 per cent, Qatar and Egypt about 39 per cent each and the Czech Republic 32.4 per cent, all on small bases that do not shift the overall balance.
What stays stable is the shape: above eighty per cent international traffic and a leading market three times the size of the second. Where those passengers end up sleeping is set out in which Costa del Sol resort gets the most visitors, and if the plan includes driving, the environmental sticker rules are in Malaga car hire.
Frequently asked questions about Malaga airport
How many passengers use Malaga airport?
26,760,549 in the 2025 financial year across 186,990 flights, on figures Aena published on 13 January 2026. That was 7.4 per cent more passengers and 6.9 per cent more flights than the previous year.
How many British passengers fly through Malaga?
6,149,697 in the year, the largest foreign market by a wide margin and around 23 per cent of everyone passing through the airport. Germany came second on 2,012,019 and the Netherlands third on 1,631,525.
Does 26.7 million passengers mean 26.7 million tourists?
No. The statistic counts passenger movements, so a visitor who flies in and out through Malaga appears twice. It also includes residents, business travel and connections rather than holidaymakers alone.
When is Malaga airport busiest?
July, with 2,866,642 passengers and 19,814 flights, which Aena called the busiest month in the airport’s history. December reached 1,681,268 passengers, its own record for that month.
A big number is easy to quote. Its unit is the part worth knowing.