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The summer connection between the Costa del Sol and the United States came to a close last week, but not before United Airlines celebrated a hugely successful peak season on its direct route from Malaga to New York.

 

The airline increased its frequency from three flights a week in 2023 to one daily flight this summer, resulting in a 280% increase in seats available on the route.

 

So popular was the route that representatives from Malaga recently travelled to San Diego and met with United Airlines to discuss expanding the New York connection to operate all year round.

 

In fact, trips to the Big Apple were in such high demand that the airline started running them in May 2024, a full month ahead of schedule. The very first flight landed with 90% of economy seats and 955 of business class seats filled.

 

The Boeing 757-200 aircraft used on the Malaga-New York route offers 176 seats, including 16 United Airlines Polaris beds in business class and 160 economy seats, including 42 economy plus seats.

 

“The market on both sides of the Atlantic has responded very well to the capacity increase on the flight from Malaga to New York,” says the airline.

 

This increase in capacity on the route has had a noticeable impact on the Costa del Sol, with the United States becoming the second largest tourist market for the city of Malaga.

 

According to data from Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE), some 8,073 people arrived in Malaga from the US in June, recording 17,667 overnight stays. This surpassed all other markets except for Britain, which saw 12,859 arrivals and 31,331 overnight stays.

 

Meanwhile, United Airlines has just announced that it will extend its Tenerife South-New York (Newark) route, offering flights from October 25 to April 30. The new six-month winter service replaces the previous summer-only schedule, which had been in place for the past three years.

 

The decision to focus on the winter season reflects United Airlines' commercial strategy, which aims to capitalise on the growing demand for travel to the sunny Canary Islands during the winter months.

 

 

Image: Freepik