Air China considers Malaga Airport as a gateway to Latin America

Pilar Martínez

Malaga

Wednesday, 9 April 2025, 12:07

Asian airline giant Air China has expressed its interest in Malaga Airport not only as the first passenger connection between the airline and Andalucía, but also as a stopover and gateway to Latin America. The intention was outlined during the Routes Europe fair, which was held in Malaga on 8 April and where regional minister of tourism, Arturo Bernal, met with the Chinese delegation to discuss connections to Brazil and Cuba, among others. The prospect would establish Europe as Air China's transfer point, replacing the United States.

The plan means that Malaga Airport could play a key role in supporting Madrid in the traffic to Latin America, which is expected to increase by 265,000 passengers, paralleling the strengthening of business connections with Chinese companies. Currently, the gateway to the Costa del Sol connects to 148 regular destinations around the world, which jump to 160 during the summer. The airport has performed well managing a high volume of passengers.

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The plan, still at a very early stage, is for Malaga to function as a hub connecting Air China's bases in Asia to Brazil and Latin America. "The company has many flights with Madrid and Barcelona and they are looking for new options to complement them," said Bernal, adding that another meeting, this time in China, has been planned for May.

Bernal stated that the plan is for Malaga Airport to operate both "commercial and cargo flights". "They are looking for airports with an international distribution structure like Barajas or El Prat. Malaga - the third busiest airport on the Spanish mainland after those two - is starting to gain this status due to its growing number of international routes and connections to different continents beyond Europe," said the regional minister.

Air China expects that the airport complementing Madrid and Barcelona would have the capacity to also operate cargo flights, to take some of the load off Madrid. In addition, Malaga's facility offers the advantage of operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week - an exclusive feature in Andalucía.

Air China is not the only company with which Andalucía is establishing connections at the Routes Europe fair. More than thirty appointments with various international companies and airport operators have been scheduled across the three days of the conference. Among the participants in Tuesday meetings were Vueling and American Airlines. According to Bernal, all of the participating companies "represent a large part of Analucía's strategic objective: the European domestic market, the outbound markets of the United States, Mexico and Canada and, on the other hand, China and the Asia-Pacific area".

Routes Europe seeks to increase the region's capacity to host new routes, responding to international demands and strengthening Andalucía's leading position in air connectivity and tourism offer in general. In 2024, Andalusian hotel establishments recorded more than 355,062 overnight stays by passengers from China, which represents an increase of 87%, while stays by visitors from the US exceeded 1.7 million, marking a growth of 16% compared to 2023.