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Flight plans bring Coast even closer to Europe

With the Costa del Sol’s tourist promotion juggernaut travelling from Berlin to Paris and on to Moscow this month, several key airlines have announced an increase in the number of direct flights to and from Málaga’s international airport. Convenient flight connections with the Costa del Sol have always been one of the key attractions for both holidaymakers and people seeking a new home in the sun, so the latest initiatives have been warmly welcomed by the local tourism and real estate industries. As regional minister for tourism and commerce Rafael Rodriguez noted, “Improving air connectivity is an absolute priority” for the Junta. In Berlin, Málaga-Costa del Sol airport manager Salvador Merino noted that Germany was consolidated as the third market – by passenger volume – after the UK and Spain, with airlines scheduling a five per cent increase in seat numbers (more than 11.5 million) next summer compared with 2013, following an even greater rise in volume this winter. Málaga is currently connected with 15 German cities – Dortmund, Muenster, Nuremberg and Hannover having joined the schedule this season. Moreno also highlighted a huge increase in the number of flights scheduled from Russian for this summer: 59 per cent more than last year, followed by Poland with a 50 per cent increase. The Junta de Andalucía (regional government) will in fact be in Moscow from 19 March for the MITT tourism fair. One of its key objectives is to encourage more Russians to opt for Andalucía (and principally the Costa del Sol) rather than their current preferred destination – both for holidays and second homes – Cataluña. In January Vueling announced that, following its recent launch of direct flights to Moscow, it plans to add St. Petersburg to the schedule in 2015. In other airline news: • Lufthansa announced that, during the summer season (starting in April), Málaga will be directly linked to Munich with five flights a week, and next year it will open a direct weekly flight with Frankfurt. • Air France says that this summer, as part of its joint venture with Delta Airlines for the Málaga-New York route, it will operate four flights from 6 June and increase this to five from 1 July to the end of August. It will also maintain the three weekly flights it operates in collaboration with Air Europe, between the French and Costa del Sol capitals; and increase from one to two its weekly connections with Toulouse. • According to Málaga mayor Francisco De la Torre, following a meeting at the Fitur tourism fair in Madrid earlier this year to renew the city’s “strategic alliance” with Turkish Airlines, the company is studying the prospect of boosting the number of direct flights with Istanbul to 10 a week. “The connection with Istanbul has opened up Málaga to the gateways of such important markets as the Middle East, Russian and the Asian area,” said De la Torre. • Ryanair is planning to offer 300,000 seats a month in summer for passengers to fly from Málaga to 50 destinations, 45 of them “international terminals”, including daily connections to Brussels from April (the Belgian route was launched in February with three weekly flights). • Norwegian Air Shuttle now has the fourth highest passenger numbers from Málaga (after Ryanair, Easyjet and Vueling), enjoying a 40 per cent increase in 2013 from its connections with over 10 European airports. [caption id="attachment_873" align="alignleft" width="300"] Well-connected luxury penthouse[/caption] For those passengers flying to Málaga over the next few months with the idea of capitalising on the area’s increasingly attractive real estate market, the options are wide, varied and great value, including this luxury penthouse in Benahavís – reduced to €495,000. Just 45 minutes from Málaga airport, the apartment complex includes two landscaped outdoor swimming pools and an indoor heated pool, a spa area, a bar and a tennis court; while the penthouses have been carefully designed and built to offer maximum space, light and security. Click here to see more.