Costa del Sol is reconnected to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi for summer

Malaga Airport continues to add attractive destinations for tourism on the Costa del Sol and for locals who want to visit cities further afield. From mid June, direct flights to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi will be available.

The connection from Malaga to the first of these destinations will begin on Saturday 17 June, with the first Gulf Air flight arriving from the Kingdom of Bahrain on Friday. The first Ethiad Airways flight to the capital of the United Arab Emirates will depart from Malaga on Sunday 18 June, at 10.35am.

The national airline of Bahrain, Gulf Air, has increased the volume of operations this high season from two to three a week. Flights will depart from the Costa del Sol airport on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until 29 September.

The first flight that departed today from Bahrain was fully booked, while for the first flight from Malaga there are very few seats left, according to the travel agencies consulted. The company said that “this increase in operations responds to a sustained growth in demand between the Costa del Sol and the Middle East, as well as to selected destinations in Asia and the Indian Ocean”.

This flight also opens a very convenient gateway to Dubai, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Malé (Maldives), Muscat (Oman), Riyadh or Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), with just one hour more flight time. Gulf Air has also chosen its flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, for this connection.

Eva Bretos, director of Gulf Air’s representative office in Spain, said at the launch of this flight in March: “It is a real pleasure to be able to present our direct route between Malaga and Bahrain for another year. Gulf Air continues to show robust growth in the Spanish market year after year. The company’s differentiated approach as a boutique airline, the construction of a new modern terminal in Bahrain and the country’s renewed commitment as an emerging tourist destination in the region, are allowing the Spanish traveller, both corporate and holiday, to continue to grow year after year”.

As for the connection with the capital of the United Arab Emirates, from Sunday 18 June Ethiad Airways will start flying from Malaga to Abu Dhabi every Wednesday and Sunday. This company first flew to Malaga Airport in the high season of 2019. At that time, the company said that its aim was to “meet the strong demand for flights that customers from the United Arab Emirates and the countries of the Gulf area have to travel to this popular province”.

Source: SUR in English, June, 2023