Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport

The sun-soaked front door to southern Spain and one of Spain’s oldest airports, opened all the way back in 1919 when flying still felt like wizardry. Today it’s the fourth busiest airport in Spain, moving millions of beach-hungry travellers eager to sprint toward Málaga, Marbella, Granada and beyond. The terminal itself is surprisingly modern, bright, and spacious. But don’t be fooled… the queues can still make you question your life choices. Food & Snacks: Decent options before security, more choices after. Expect everything from tapas to your emergency airport burger : Burger King duty free is huge — perfect for buying olive oil and perfume or that house number burned to perfect gloss in Spanish glory you absolutely don’t need Theres a train station right outside (C1 line) gets you to Málaga city in minutes. Taxis & buses are ready for easy transfers. Tip: Security and baggage check-in can bottleneck at peak times — arrive early, or at least walk fast enough. Also allocate time and plenty of standing capacity at the gates and check in counters. Water stations and toilets are aplenty. For departures, theres also a museum accessible near gate D52.

A truly excellent airport: very clean, well-organized, and with friendly staff. Getting around inside is easy and pleasant. I especially appreciated the water fountains available throughout the terminal. Food prices are affordable, and the airport also offers several entertaining facilities. A wonderful experience—this airport really made my trip exceptional.

It’s a forever growing airport angle feels like it takes forever to get through security ; but to be honest when you look at the timings it’s usually around the 30 minutes. Really quick Lounge is also upgrading and the bar and food areas are much more accessible Plenty of seating too

I’m using this airport for years now, and it’s always painful. Super slow even though it’s not exactly busy. Absolutely avoid interacting with check-in desks at all costs, travel light. There’s no auto bag drop so you’ll have to suffer this on a quiet day…. I think I just heard the ONE person checking for the Dublin flight just walked off. This has happened me at least 3 times over the years. Super backward airport

Airport has air conditioning so waiting inside is very comfortable. Toilets are clean and in good shape. There are a lot of seats so you can find space to wait for the plane. The amount of restaurants and shops is sufficient so you can can buy whether you need to eat or drink. In addition you can find Spanish and local souvenirs. The security control is smooth and quick but more demanding than on Chopin Airport.

Málaga is one of those places that has left a mark with me and my wife. We enjoyed the hospitality, climate, food and location. There's plenty to do whether for friends of nature, culture or culinary. I just stayed for a long weekend, but we have decided to come back and stay for a week, to enjoy the beaches and leisure activities. Thanks to the city and its people for making our stay so enjoyable 🫶🏼

Ah, Málaga Airport — my beloved hometown gateway. A sun-drenched portal to Andalusian bliss… or rather, a deeply frustrating paradox: modern on the outside, maddening on the inside. Let’s start with passport control, the crown jewel of inefficiency. Welcome to the chaos: endless queues, overheated tempers, and a tragic ballet of underutilisation. Yes, those automated passport gates — you’ve probably walked past them — are real. They’ve been standing silently in corners for over a decade like forgotten IKEA furniture, never switched on, never removed, just there… gathering dust and existential resentment. A poignant metaphor for wasted potential, really. Fortunately, I can slip through the crew channel like a shadowy VIP — but for the average traveller? It’s purgatory with fluorescent lighting. Tense officers doing the job of ten, facing an avalanche of sweaty tourists while the airport’s actual infrastructure lounges in a coma. And then, the moving walkways — or rather, the non-moving walkways. Ah yes, those graceful steel carpets designed to spare passengers a long trek through endless terminal corridors. Except they’ve been out of service since the Jurassic. Perhaps they’re on a break? A decade-long sabbatical? Or maybe they’re protesting the conditions too — I wouldn’t blame them. It’s astonishing. Málaga Airport has all the bones of a top-tier European hub: sleek architecture, prime geographic position, year-round demand. But it’s run like a pop-up tent at a beach festival — the difference being, a tent might at least offer shade and a smile. What’s truly sad is that this airport could be magnificent. It should be. Instead, we have a gleaming façade disguising a logistical mess, where passenger experience is clearly the lowest priority, and the only ones holding things together are overworked, underappreciated border police who bear the brunt of managerial indifference. I say all this not out of disdain, but out of love — because this airport deserves so much better. As do its passengers. Is anybody reading this? C’mon, guys, wake up!

Drinkable water from a water fountain is available once through security. There is one fountain that I found by gate c34 as pictured below. (I believe there are more though) I must admit as others have mentioned it isn’t the greatest tasting water but it states its drinkable so thats something at least. Note: Still as of end of October 2025 you cannot take bottles with liquids through security even though they are supposed to have installed better x-ray machines by “2025”….whenever that actually means exactly? The airport itself is very nice and very modern.

Nice airport with a HUGE duty free store full of decently priced items. There are a number of places to eat and the security is very through and they seemed to have enough security for my flight coming and going. The Uber pickup point.is very small though with no real covering.

This is an OK airport, to be the largest hub in Andalucía for international flights....the airport itself is a bit dated and not full of shops like Atlanta, Istanbul, Paris, etc. There are many discount airlines like Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling, etc..as well as many large airlines like Turkish airlines, Iberia, Air France, Lufthansa and more. The customs line was a bit long, but it did move fairly quick, We decided to take an Uber into the city and it was a bit confusing on where to wait for the ride-share...it's on the way to the train station, past the main airport curb...there is a section for Uber and one for Cabify. Overall an average airport.

A smaller airport with limited restaurants and shops. Flew in on a Tuesday afternoon and quite busy. Baggage claim process was seamless and bags came out in a timely manner. Taxi was available without a wait and official queue is steps after exit. About 15 minutes from the city center. Departing process was fast as I had a very early flight. No queue for check in or security. Overall, clean and seems to be efficient.

AGP is much larger than I expected. We were the only flight arriving on a Friday evening so we got to "enjoy" the very LONG walk to an uncrowded immigration control. Then, more walking to get to transportation. Taxis were plentiful and quite reasonable in price. €22 for a ride to the old city.

Hubs and I felt like the forgotten passengers. In many ways, we felt like Tom Hanks in the movie "The Terminal". Plus, we were tossed from gate to gate to gate to gate to gate. Especially that Saturday morning we were initially traveling back home. NO ONE had concrete answers. One thing led to another then we were given vouchers for a delayed overnight hotel stay. Thank God it wasn't for a rinky-dink spot. Then again, beggars can't be choosers. From all the back and forth, I think I raked it about 50,000 in like 2 days. Employees we encountered were pleasant- some much more helpful than others. Since our flight was delayed at first, then cancelled and delayed overnight, we were pissed. And my hangups go beyond with what's going on in air travel- but more about the lack of COMMUNICATION from gate staff and the fact they didn't offer any information UNLESS you personally asked. Or, the fact that Málaga Airport's loud speaker system sounded so damn muffled, we all relied on each other to find out who heard what. And what about the fact that this airport barely had wall chargers? It was great they had charging tower stations in designated gates but they were so far apart it was just pure nonsense. Hubs and I were fucking pissed. The Brits were a bit more politically correct and said things like, "oh...for f*ck sakes or "oh bollocks". Hubs and I were the only Caribbean folks- but if the flight was filled with a bunch of Dominicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans- forget about it- you best believe we would be like, "you muvva f*ckas, Carajo, puñeta". From the first time the flight was delayed, cancelled, delayed overnight, yada, yada, yada and when we finally boarded at zero dark thirty on a Sunday to head home, we were ALL friends. From the Scottish ladies, to the several British families who frequent Marbella quite often, to that Chinese couple who love Marbella so much, they've lived there for 30 yrs- we heard it all and noticed it all. In the end, British Airways+Iberia did the very best they could (or the least they could- with a fake smile and a damn attitude) even though it was a day later.

Rental car and airport staffing is lacking and rude. Returned our car and there was zero help and Air Europa was not only very little help, they made mistakes on our reservation and were very rude. Food services and comfort was lacking as well. I would suggest using the train system if possible.

This airport is also large! Security takes forever at times! If your airline offers the fast track I would suggest using it!! Many options to have coffee and eat!

Since my final destination was a small resort on Costa del Sol, Malaga was the closest airport, the end of my journey. It's a small airport, the arrival area seemed older to me, a tad dingy, but I had no issues (except that our driver was very late to meet, but that's not an airport related incident and it's always hectic when you first land in a place you never have been before). Otherwise, being small, it's pretty straight forward. The departure area seemed bigger, more modern to me, airy, clean. Decent waiting areas, some OK food options where you can still get nice Spanish food (manchego and jamon baguette sandwich) but pricey since this is an airport after all! They do have ATM machines in the airport, but I couldn't manage to actually get money out, tried various debit cards, so it's one of those things when you travel, better get cash! OK for a small airport, especially if you don't spend a lot of time here!

Very good airport, easy to navigate, I think is one of the biggest in Spain and you can tell by the influx of people. Do not expect it to be super modern as other airports, but still for me it was very convenient, everything on time, stores are nice, restaurants with great food and service, people very friendly. Easy to get in and out. Can't wait to go back to Malaga through this airport.

Convenient airport with free wifi and easy connections to the old town area with public transport. We took the A1 bus which cost 3 euro. It arrived in a central area which was close to most of the touristy spots. The bus ride wasn't very packed in either direction.

The lines move quickly at Aeropuerto de Malaga. Everything is great here. I enjoyed flying through this airport.

It's a really busy airport but there are no self-check in kiosks available to facilitate getting a boarding pass. This creates unnecessary delays both at the check in counter and then at the security gates.

What happened at this airport last Friday 24 September wast the worst experience I ever had in my life of traveling the world.. really bad .

I've flown through here twice. The first time was many years ago on my way to a ski holiday in the Sierra Nevada mountains about 2.5 hours drive north - it's the southern-most ski resort in Europe and you can see Africa from the top of the mountain. The second was on my recent long weekend to Marbella. There is a very spacious feel to the airport, which must be very busy at the weekend with all the Costa del Sol charters arriving en masse. It wasn't as busy the weekend I visited and I was out of customs within 15 minutes of touchdown. The bus transfer to Marbella left from just outside the arrivals terminal and it cost a miserly 5.50 Euros. As I had checked in online, I didn't have to join some of the long looking check in queues. The security line was very short. Inside the departure area, there are some retails shops and a nice variety of eating options from fast food like Burger King to gourmet caviar and seafood at the Prunier seafood bar. My plane departed on time and that's exactly what you want from an airport.

Aeropuerto de Málaga (AGP)... this airport has it's pros and cons, but overall it's a-ok. Flying into this airport was a breeze. The airport is clearly marked with signs in three languages (including English) so we were able to quickly navigate to the baggage claim belt and the rental car pick up. Flying out of the airport was slightly more complicated. There were very few signs outside the airport to guide us. Luckily, there weren't many cars on the road at 7:00 am because the sign for the rental car return did not pop up until the last minute and we almost missed our turn. Our airline tickets instructed us to arrive at the Malaga airport two hours before boarding, but this was unnecessary for our 9:00 am flight. We were annoyed to see that the airport was barely open at 7:00 am. After we dropped off our rental car we made our way to ticket counter, only to find out it hadn't opened yet. Since there were no indications of when the ticket counter would open we decided to wait at the counter so we'd be first in line. When the ticketing agents finally arrived it appeared that their computers were down so the ticket agent grabbed by ticket and walked off. Finally, after twenty minutes of wondering what on earth was going on I was handed back my ticket and they checked us into our flight. We cleared security in a few minutes since there were no lines and we didn't have to remove our shoes or show id. Perhaps security is more intense if you are flying out of the country? Once we cleared security we realized the airport does not announce gate numbers until 25 minutes before the plane boards so we decided to have breakfast while we waited. There are a nice selection of restaurants and boutiques to kill time at. WIFI was free, but it was not easy to connect to from my iPhone. All in all the Malaga airport is an average airport; I've flown through better and worse airports.

ARRIVAL Not quite sure exactly what I was expecting, but the international arrivals area of Malaga airport definitely didn't wow me. It felt old and dingy, but alas, pretty much empty during the slow season, so that mean't immigration lines were very quick. We seemed to bypass the formal exit by going into an elevator into the rental car garage (to meet friends who had gotten in earlier). Overall nothing good, nothing bad, just eh. DEPARTURE That all changed when we got dropped off for our flight out of Malaga. The airport suddenly was huge, and much more modern feeling, with again no special features, but overall a much better vibe. We found our check in area easily and then waited for agents to arrive. PRO TIP, in the slow season at least, Royal Air Maroc agents won't arrive more than 2 hours before departure time. We got through security pretty quickly and found the gate area to be pretty nice. Some shops and restaurants and with a nice feel to the area. Once our gate was announced we made our way over to what I guess is the international departures terminal, exiting the Schengen and passing by immigration. This area felt older and not quite as nice and clean, with much less shops and restaurants (somethings were closed by might be slow season related, or the fact it was New Year's Day) but there were some nice relaxing lounge chairs with a great view of the runway.

What makes this place special to me is that AGP was the first airport I have ever been to in Spain. A sense of excitement rushed through my veins because I just arrived at probably one of the best countries in the world, and Spain was high on my list of countries that I wanted to visit. It was also the place where I began to actually speak a language I have never studied but slowly began to learn. It is really clean and spacious. It's probably the largest airport in Andalucia and a lot of great locations are accessible such as the beaches of the Costa del Sol and the beautiful city of Granada is less than a couple of hours away by ALSA bus. It probably takes less than 30 minutes by bus from this airport to the Spanish Renfe train station if you want to catch a train to better cities in Andalucia or the ALSA bus station that's also near the train station. The immigration control here amazes me. AGP, along with MAD (Madrid-Barajas) has broke the record for the fastest amount of time I have to get through immigration with a US Passport. There was no queue. I walked up to the immigration officer, and gave him my passport. He said "Hola," (Hello) to me. I said "Hola" back to him. He quickly looked at my passport, looked at my face, scanned it in a computer, and stamped the passport with a capital "E" (España), which was of course, awesome. He gave back my passport, I said "Gracias, señor," (Thank you, sir) and he smiled and said "Vale" (okay). No questions were asked. The time it took was under 4 minutes. The information and tourism staff are fairly helpful. They can speak English very fluently, and provided a lot of useful maps, particularly information on bus routes to take from the airport to either the centre of the city or to the train/bus stations. The employees at the stores cannot speak any English so you probably have to speak some Spanish. Overall, this will probably the airport I will turn to if I need to fly to Andalucia and head to the gorgeous beaches of the Costa del Sol. I think once the airport provides free wi-fi, it has a lot of potential to be a great airport.

As airports go, pretty decent! - quick security - decent meal options - Burger King/pizza shop - good amount of charging points (especially Burger King) - taxis can drive right to the entrance to leave you off - staff are great - thorough without being Agro. Negative - passport control are overly strict. Challenged us for going under the temporary barrier even though there was no queue! 3 stars seems fair enough!

This is exactly what an international airport should be - makes Belfast international look like the garden shed! Loads of shopping and places to eat, Even with a 2 hr delay it was easily passed in this vast airport

AGP, the gateway to the Costa Del Sol. And recommended for the traveler to Andalucia. Wow, what a change. I came here about 10 years ago and remember this as being a pretty dumpy airport. Apparently, they built a massive modern terminal (T3) which opened in 2010. I'd hate to be the sucker airlines that ended up staying in the old terminal, because the new one is fantastic. Usually, a 6:50am flight means you're going to arrive at the airport and nothing will be open. Not so, the gates and security were open before 5am, as well as several major concessions. US-based brand shops--Starbucks and BK--to cater to the English-speaking tourist crowd. The duty free shop was humming, and is large and spacious. The all-airline business class lounge was large, clean, and attractive with the usual amazing selection of European wines and decent food. The really quirky thing upon arrival is getting your bags if you are coming from outside the EU. Apparently, every flight has 2 carousels for luggage but they only post the domestic one on the monitors. So unless you know to look for a second one in the international area, you'll get to stand with all the dejected sad-faces as the belt shuts off and you think your luggage was lost in transit.

Bus transport from tarmac to terminal, then a long walk to retrieve your bags left at the boarding gate, then a very long walk to the rental car courtesy shuttle pickup area.

We decided to go to Spain for our honeymoon. We landed in Malaga and flew out from there on the way home. To be honest, things are a little bit foggy because we were so utterly exhausted by the time we landed in Spain. I do remember that we had trouble finding our luggage because it was in a "Non-EU" room (odd, but better than being lost!) and that it seemed very humid when we got there, but it wasn't so bad by the end of the trip when we were used to it. When we flew back out, Terminal 1 was closed because they were filming a movie (how exciting!) so we had to find out way to Terminal 1, which was no problem. Bummer: no wireless. They do have pay-by-the-minute computer kiosks with internet, which we had to use when we realize we didn't have direction to the town we were visiting. Plenty of car rentals company to choose from and it's centrally located. Cheap tickets to the central train station, too!

The Malaga airport is very modern and spacious. The service is mostly efficient, but the check in could have been better organized -- the lines that we were in were so long that they blocked the flow of traffic behind us. Other than that, it is a pleasant airport. You even get 30 minutes free Wi-Fi. One thing for everyone interested in duty-free shopping: my family and I all thought that the prices were completely unjustified and that we could get better deals at our local supermarket here in Berlin, even with tax figured in.

This is a regional airport with average amenities, a bit run down but clean and orderly. As a foreign traveler, I would have appreciated more multi-language signs, but we did manage. Two things to keep in mind: foreign luggage will be diverted to a different baggage carousel following a Customs inspection (look for small signs on the carousels directing you to the right location); you will meet local guides and ride services outside the baggage area. You can not return once you've left baggage claim, so make sure you have claimed all your items!

Our International flight out of Malaga was at 9:30am. The concierge at our resort suggested we be there 3 hours early due to the recent "ISSUES" in Paris. We were at Hertz to return our rental car at 6:45 am.... no one there. Nope, we could have dropped the keys in the box but, hey, we like real people and real receipts. We bought the extra insurance and glad we did, scraped up a door handle making a tight turn into an underground parking lot. Waited until 7:05, they guy shows up and says, drop the keys. You want a receipt, it will take 15 minutes.... left the keys. No signs to tell us where to go, guy in garage says go to second floor. We go and meet a gentleman coming out of the parking lot bathroom asking for some change. He missed his flight to Paris and needs money to catch the next one.... not happening... am I still asleep? Dark and empty with no directions as to where to go, we are pretty sure we are on the right level but where the heck do we go from here? I noticed a cluster of cars and people, we head there. Wrong. As it turns out, we found our check-in gate two hours before check-in and were 2nd in line. There must have been 80 people in line behind us before the gate agents showed up, 10 minutes after they were supposed to be there. Apparently they had decided to go out for coffee and a smoke, that's what the first in line told us.

This airport has all the charm of a remodel but all the problems of a builder's grade flip. When we arrived to AGP we were very impressed by how modern and new it looked, all the shops were open and trendy but all of that awe was taken away soon as we left. Trying to find the rental car company was complicated because not all of the signage was correct / updated. Then trying to figure out how to get to arrivals to pick up other travelers was also complicated. After looping around the airport three times we found out that the arrivals section only allows taxis to pick up passengers. So if you are planning to pick some one up, have them meet you at departures on the second level. When we came back to AGP for out flight out to Brussels, there was no A/C on in the airport. People were sweating and complaining of the heat. I do not understand why there was no A/C on with the amount of people in the airport. Next time I come back to this airport, I hope the signs are updated for car rentals and returns and the A/C is turned on. Wifi here is free for 15 minutes.

5 starts for one reason... they have a train into the city! Simple zip in and zip out. No waiting 2 hours for a bus... 15 minutes in a train then your in the center of Malaga. No signs to the train. First time took us ages to find it. In this way... I will always miss London airports. It's literally impossible to get lost! I haven't yet had to spend any real time here, i've only just moved to Malaga. But I can see there are plently of shops and cafes to bide your time when having a flight transfer or delay. Or if your like me... and go to the airport way too early in fear of it taking too long to get to the other side. As with spain, you get your free 30 minutes of wifi. They need to make this free like most airports in the USA. Maybe one day!

Like any other big airport around. It was jam packed with tourists and the shopping was ok. I am not a big fan or airports so I am afraid they will usually get a 3 from me :-)

Many fine attributes to this ultra-modern airport; it's clean and efficient. Easy to catch a train to the main station for travel to other Spanish cities. One bizarre thing: upon checking in for a recent flight to Amsterdam - my boarding pass said they will board at 19:50, gate unknown. Then all the reader boards said the gate will be announced at 19:50 AND board at 19:50! I like to get to the gate a little early, so I'm not rushing, but I had no idea if I would need to run across the airport to find the gate while the plane was already boarding. When I made a comment to another couple on the same flight, they said this was quite normal for this airport. As it is, we didn't board until 20:15, so it seems like a communication/coordination problem within the airport.

A dreadful place! It's chaotic in so many ways and finding your way around is a little complicated but it's possible - that's the only vague positive I can find. The negatives are numerous - the people who run the car hire centres are a candidate for the rudest people I have ever met and go out of their way to be unhelpful. We weren't sure where to park when we returned our hired car and the guy we tried to get help from was so spectacularly unhelpful (all he said was 'I'm calling the police if you don't move your car' when we stopped to ask for assistance). Inside there is very limited food available and at a quite incredible price. We bought 5 sandwiches, 2 glasses of beer and 3 soft drinks and the bill was over EUR40 from a takeaway stand! The souvenir shops were full of really poor quality stuff (as well as having hard core porn on low shelves where kids can reach it easily) and the prices were extraordinary - at least 4 times what you'd pay in a shop in some town like Fuengirola or Marbella. The place was crowded and there was nowhere for us to sit while we waited - facilities are poor and the place is badly set out. Don't arrive here with time to kill in search of last minute food (all dreadful and expensive) or to spend the last of your currency as you'll end up with a keyring of a bull costing EUR10. Actually fly to another airport if you can - this one is memorably unpleasant!

Malaga Airport is undergoing a major building programme at the moment with the construction of a new terminal and facilities. In all finding your way into the airport in a car is a bit treacherous at the moment, it's very easy to miss the entrance to the car hire return area, meaning a long journey all the way to the top of the airport and then back down towards the motorway before you can try again. The airport itself is pretty well signposted in my opinion, all the gate areas are colour coded and you get and indication of which area you need to go to (A, B or C) long before your gate is announced giving you plenty of time to get in the right place before your flight boards! They also now seem to have men in orange jumper all over the place offering assistance to the elderly or infirm with heavy luggage which I think is a nice touch! The duty free shop here is very good with a large array of goods on offer! The rest of the shops are absolute rubbish! Expensive and lacking in goods they seem to prey on people that want to get rid of the rest of their euros before boardign a plane. The food is absolutely crazy! On a reent flight to the UK we decided that we would try and avoid the slightly exepnsive cost of a sandwich on the plane by grabbing something at Malaga. A sandwich was EUR 6!!!! 500ml drink was EUR 3!!!! A complete rip off, and the extortionate charges of the budget carrier we were using were far more reaonsable at £6 for a sandwich, crisps and drink! Can't agree with other reviews about the car hire desks, they've all been friendly towards me when I've used them. So in summary, decent airport, good duty free, eat before you go!

The airport is small and very very busy in the summer. It is hard to get there without a car. Not far from the city, it is the gateway to the Costa del Sol for many people, especially during the high season. Low-cost airlines offer flights to pretty much everywhere. Make sure you keep an eye on your bag and get there in time. Once checked in, you have more room, and less chaos, but if you get hungry, prices are very high!

Málaga airport is one of the major airports in Spain due to the number of tourist arrivals on charter flights using Malaga airport as a gateway to the Costa del Sol

Great service with Taxi transfers in Malaga Airport!! Higly recommend. http://cheaptaximalaga.com

Not bad for a small Airport. The amenities and food available are decent. THe only problem was that the ASEOS were WAY on the other side of the terminal from the Iberia counter.

AS we like travelling around southern Spain my wife and I have been through this airport more than most others except our home airport. It's not been that long since we were last there but oddly I can't remember it in anything like the detail I can remember many airports I've been to, even if only just the once. I can remember the big points though even if not the finer details of our specific trips. Each time we have hired a car and found that to be both good and bad. The car parking for rental cars is easy to exit when you first arrive, however on leaving the airport property those from countries that aren't familiar with roundabouts or those from places like the UK (who drive on the left) may find themselves a little flustered to be deposited right on to a roundabout where two roads join about 30 metres before the actual roundabout meaning 5 lanes join a roundabout with only 3 lanes. This can seem daunting if the road is busy. Although the multi story and covered walk-way from the main terminal are pretty good the provision of only 1 office per rental company has meant on almost all our trips a long queue to pick up our car. The terminal itself is a bright, modern and airy place that has always seemed to run well without any major problems, although it has on occasion felt that service at some airline desks and some points of security could be faster/more efficient. immigration officials could also come across as a bit less surly. All in all a decent example of a modern airport with some small areas where there is room for improvement.

After spending a short evening in Málaga, I flew out to Madrid around noon. When I got here, I found this airport to be very clean, big, and fully serviceable to anyone who passes through. When I spend more time in Southern Spain and if I happen to be coming this way, I'd be back here. Málaga is a beautiful city that's somewhat unheard of to normal tourist-familiar areas of the Mediterranean.

all this may help !! Malaga Airport Terminal 3 Arrivals Hall The arrivals area can only be accessed through Terminal T3. The terminals at Malaga Costa del Sol Airport are just a few minutes walk from each other and can be easily reached by travelators, lifts and escalators. If you land at Terminal 2 at Malaga Airport you will be directed into the new Terminal 3 (http://www.malagaairport.eu/terminal3.php) to clear security and collect your baggage. This is because the older Terminal 2 is currently undergoing refurbishment. Baggage Reclaim at Malaga Airport Terminal 3 Once you have gone through passport control you need to take the escalators down to the baggage reclaim hall where in T3 there are 11 baggage reclaim carousels (9 for European Union flights and 2 for non-European Union flights) and 1 for special baggage. The hall in T2 has 10 baggage reclaim carousels. The new automated baggage handling system can handle 7,500 cases per hour, with an approximate processing time of 3 minutes.Make sure you follow the signs and go down the escalators to the baggage reclaim (even if you only have hand luggage) as this is also the way out to the terminal forecourt which is where the bus stops and taxi rank are located. Meeting Point & Shop in Terminal 3 Arrivals There is a Prensa shop in the public arrivals area where you can get newspapers, magazines, maps and sweets for your onward journey. If you are waiting for someone there is a VIPs cafe in the public arrivals area which is open from 07:30 to midnight. Transport Connections from Malaga Airport Terminal 3 If you have hired a car from Malaga Airport (http://www.malagaairport.eu/carhire.php) then the car rental desks are still located in the Terminal 1 extension, on the lower level of Terminal 2 and now on the ground floor outside the arrivals hall at Terminal 3. If you have arranged a private transfer from Malaga Airport (http://www.malagaairport.eu/transfers.php) or are being met by someone, then go through the Terminal 3 baggage hall and head out through the doors into the public area where there is an area they can wait, or they can arrange to meet you in VIPs café which is open daily from 07:30 until midnight. After you have collected your luggage from the carousel head out into the public arrivals hall you will see a forecourt where the Malaga Airport Taxis (http://www.malagaairport.eu/taxis.php) and Malaga Airport Buses (http://www.malagaairport.eu/.php) are waiting. There is transportation hub which links the new Terminal 3 to the bus station, pedestrian access to P1 and P2 and suburban train station. When you access it from arrivals you will enter a large square (atrium) over the bus station and the terminal arrivals floor. Lifts and mechanical ramps provide access to the transportation hub's Arrivals and Departures levels. The train station now forms part of the Terminal T3 building and has provisional access from the exterior arrivals area until the building work is finished. This arrivals area can be reached through the terminal or through the new transportation hub where the pedestrian footbridge connects to the car park buildings and the bus station.

Great airport. We arrived very late and most of the stores were closed but flying back to the US was great. We were able to shop and get goodies before boarding our plane.

Duty Free Shopping... Whilst holidaying in Malaga we bought packs of Marlboro around the city from Tabacs; bars; hotels etc. they were the same good quality (whether you like the brand or not) as you'd expect or could compare to the UK. I did wonder as to whether I should buy my allowance, in one of the Tabacs in Malaga, or in Malagasy Duty Free on our return journey. Well, I wish I 'had' bought them in Malaga City because the ones that are being sold in Malaga Airport's Duty Free are absolutely rubbish! I realise that smoking is very detrimental to ones health but, I daren't think what is in these, apart from floor sweepings. I know full well that different recipes are used, depending on where in the world they are being distributed, However, If you want quality cigarettes, believe me, don't buy them at Malaga airport! I feel, for all the money Phillip Morris make from smokers they should, at the 'very' least, give their customers the same quality and recipe that they expect... worldwide!! Disgusted The airport, transport links and staffing were all fantastic. The quality and price points of the duty free, badly let it down!!!