"We'd love to visit, but the flights are such a hassle."

That excuse just got harder to sell. Ryanair added nine new direct routes from Málaga this winter, and other airlines are piling on. If your family has been blaming connection flights for not visiting, the excuses are running thin.

New this winter from Málaga:

That's on top of increased frequencies to Copenhagen, Dublin, Fez, and Milan. Ryanair's winter capacity from Málaga is up 7% year-on-year. Confirmed January 2026.

For route questions, the Málaga Airport Information Desk (+34 913 21 10 00) can confirm schedules and connections.

The direct flight changes the equation for the visit. A two-hour flight is a weekend trip. A two-hour flight plus a three-hour layover is "maybe next year."

If you've been the one flying back for Christmas, birthdays, and emergencies while everyone else stays put, the balance just shifted. Your parents can get here in the afternoon. Your college friends can do a long weekend. The excuse infrastructure is collapsing.

Málaga now connects to 159 airports through 49 airlines. That's not a regional airport. That's a hub.

The airport handled over 15 million passengers in the first seven months of 2025, up nearly 8% from 2024. A €1.5 billion expansion starts in 2028 to handle projected growth to 36 million.

The coast isn't just where you live. It's becoming where people can actually get to.

While we're talking about connections, remember the air taxi?

In 2023, Málaga announced a partnership with German company Lilium to bring electric air taxis to the coast. The promise: 15-minute flights from Málaga airport to Marbella by 2030. A "vertiport" at the airport. Autonomous flights "in the medium term." Newspapers are still touting it as the latest and greatest about to hit the Costa.

What happened: Lilium filed for insolvency in October 2024. A €200 million rescue attempt collapsed. In February 2025, operations stopped entirely. Over 700 employees lost their jobs.

The 15-minute flight to Marbella isn't coming. Not from Lilium, anyway.

The Costa del Sol runs on announcements. New train lines, airport expansions, tech hubs, flying taxis. Some of it happens. Much of it doesn't.

The tell: Watch for funding, not fanfare. Ryanair's nine new routes came with planes, crews, and published schedules. Lilium came with renders, timelines, and press releases.

When someone promises infrastructure, ask: Is there a budget line item, or just a memorandum of understanding?

The A-7 traffic to Marbella isn't going anywhere. The Ryanair to Teesside is.

When booking travel for visitors:

"¿Hay vuelo directo desde [city]?" — Is there a direct flight from [city]?

The answer is increasingly yes.

Nine new direct routes won't transform your life, but they chip away at the friction that kept people from visiting. The flight excuse is dying. The coast's connectivity is catching up to where you already live. And somewhere in a German warehouse, an electric air taxi gathers dust. Some infrastructure arrives. Some get announced. Know the difference.

Enjoy the weekend — A. and the WaypointSur team, all window seat, no connection