Malaga Airport

On arrival we were sent to the t2 overflow and unknown to me the car hire representative I was meant to meet was waiting at t1! Just make sure you bring with you the contact number for your car hire company so you can track them down if you are sent to a different terminal! On the outward journey our gate was changed not 2 but 3 times the gate we were sent to was tiny with most people having to stand for around 40 minutes as the flight was delayed (something which we weren't even told). Seating is scarce at Malaga airport there are only a handful of public seats with the rest in the overpriced food court. I don't know how much the construction work has to do with the chaos at the airport but it was a worse experience than Dalaman in Turkey. On arrival all 150 or so passengers were herded unto a small bus with "max capacity 75" clearly written on the roof. It is a very busy airport but then so is Heathrow or Stansted and both have far better facilities and a better atmosphere than Malaga.

Flew to Malaga on a full BA 757 flight. We were bussed to the terminal which I found strange as the low cost carriers were all attached to Air Bridges. We were deposited in the bowels of T2 to clear passport control - a lengthy process. Baggage reclaim was chaotic to say the least - 3 different belts were given for our baggage. And this part of the airport could do without time share salespeople getting in the way. The new terminal looks smart and let's hope it leads to big improvements at this very busy airport. On current form however it is a poor show

We've only been through Malaga once before several years ago and cannot remember much about it apart from the alterations / expansion going on. It clearly has expanded a lot since then but it's still not entirely finished. Travelling with hand luggage only we didn't take in much of the place when we arrived apart from long walkways with frosted glass windows. Unlike at PMI which we know well arriving passengers seem to be kept entirely separate from those departing. We're not sure how easily we would have found it driving out of the airport though if we hadn't had excellent instructions from the lady who rented us both her country house and a hire car as you emerge right into the thick of the traffic of "greater" Malaga. Departing from Malaga was reasonably straightforward too. It took a while to find a parking space but then the signs towards and inside the terminal building were clear and we discovered that there was a separate security area for those who do not need to check in at the airport desks and that area was very quiet indeed. From what we could see the main security area was very busy but flowing fairly smoothly. We didn't visit any of the shops so can't comment on those but in the waiting area between security and the moving walkways up to the shops it was difficult to hear the flight announcements. Apart from that considering this was a busy holiday area airport at the height of the season things could not have gone much more easily.

Typical Charter Airport at its soul but you know what it has got better over the years. Big Check in Halls can cope with mountainous amounts of passengers. Security is good and fast and the airside is ok. Nothing special but adequate. Arriving can be a bit tiresome but again as with all charter airports baggage handling can be slow but have never had major issues. The one they could really do is join up the thinking here. The south coast of Spain is now a massive long city and there is a train running along it. They need to connect the whole thing together for the locals if not for the tourists.

Malaga Airport is very boring. There are only a handful of expensive shops. The cafe/restaurant is expensive and the food is dreadful. I don't advise letting your children buy sweets without an adult. Every time our children have been served they have been short changed and the assistants are very rude when they question their change. We have also witnessed other children leaving the shop telling their parents they have been short changed also.

Flew through Malaga Airport last month. Baggage didn't appear until well after the flight had vanished causing some concern amongst the remaining passengers off the flight. The bags just appeared eventually apparently from no where. Returning the queues for check in were as lengthy as ever with only a terrible chain coffee outlet for comfort - it wasn't a surprise that the staff were so grumpy. Our check in took the best part of two hours an we only just made the flight. I don't understand why the check in took so long because when eventually got to the desk check in was very fast indeed. It is difficult to understand why the construction work (apparently the cause of all problems at Malaga) is taking so long. I opted to pay extra and hire a car from Sixt which is off airport and easy to use. May pay readers to do the same especially using the on-line check in for the car. We were in and out in 10 minutes.

I and hundreds of fellow passengers waited for between 2/3 hours to get from the departure area to the boarding gates on Friday 27th June. My own flight (Easyjet 8606) had a delay of about an hour which was a mild inconvenience to me but the standing time left me in a lot of discomfort as I have a lymph drainage condition. There were many elderly/disabled/children/unwell tired and fed up people in the queue so obviously tempers were frayed at times resulting in lots of arguments. There was no information available as to why there were delays. However people at the back could access information from the departure area and then tried to push through so as to not miss their flights causing more mayhem. The whole experience was upsetting and frightening leaving one wondering what might have happened in an emergency.

The rental car return point has changed the entrance is clearly marked but you must follow the signs to either basement level -1 or -2. It is not apparent that you must do this. Do not leave your car in the bays that are still currently marked with your renters name as you drive into the car return centre on floor zero. Also the new drop off point is in what is refered to as Car Park 1 and is now some walk from the main terminal building so do allow extra time. This new layout has been in place since 13th Sept but due to appalling organisation information and signage was still creating chaos when I dropped my rental car off on 25th Sept.

Until its construction is over (perhaps 2010) make sure your bags have wheels trolleys are nowhere to be found and if you are going to parking T1 don't forget boots gloves and a construction hard hat. How they allow the public to park there in middle of construction. But Malaga is great place.

Recently arrived from and returned to STN over a 5 day period. Overall AGP works very well though I'm glad I saw it in March. It could be hideous in July. Construction suggests that it plans to cope well in the future. For now it seemed a very long walk from the arrival gate to the baggage hall. Baggage arrived quite quickly as it turned out but the televisions did not seem to indicate either its arrival or location so we just guessed where it was. On departure the check-in hall although busy worked well through sensible allocation of desks. Security was rather brusque but still not the TSA. Waiting for the flight was quite pleasant with plenty of seating though I'm glad I got my breakfast just ahead of the rush.