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| :: Special Report :: Up, Up and Away ... |
 :: In March 1919, a Salmson 2A plane flying over the city looking for a place to land, touched down on a plot of land known as ‘El Rompedizo’ and Malaga Airport was born. Since that time, the airport has grown and evolved along with the region and its popularity. In this special report, B2B takes a look at Malaga Airport and investigates the current expansion and development programme that will create a fantastic facility as is fitting for the gateway to Andlaucia and the Costa del Sol.
Travelling in that Salmson 2A plane was Pierre Latecoere, who at the time was hunting for locations in Spain that could be used as aerodromes. His aim was to establish a commercial airline to link France with its African colonies through Spain and later to reach South America.
After several test flights, Didier Daurat, future manager of the Malaga aerodrome, began scheduled services between Toulouse, Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, Tangiers and Casablanca on September 1, 1919.
In 1937, Malaga Airport became an air station and the training school’s air force crew, members, observers and specialists were based there.
On July 12, 1946, the airport was opened to domestic and international flights and classified as a customs post.
Growth
Throughout the 1960s, the design of the airport was changed radically as, apart from extending the runway and building a parallel taxiway, a new terminal area was laid out at the geometric centre of the airfield. This area was located 1.5km to the north of the existing terminal, where a new aircraft parking area, the control tower, a power plant and a passenger terminal were to be built. This development also included the installation of a range of navigational aids: a VASIS and a VOR in 1965, an ILS system in 1966 and a radar system in 1970.
The airport, which had at different times been known as El Rompedizo and Garcia Morato, became officially known as Malaga Airport by a Ministerial Order issued in September 1965.
The new passenger terminal was opened on January 29, 1968, and both the domestic and international services were relocated there. At this point in time, around 30 companies operated these services out of Malaga, and the increasing air traffic, mainly non-scheduled flights, meant a specific terminal had to be built. The new building was identical to those built in Palma, Girona, Alicante and Ibiza. It was opened on June 30, 1972.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso Terminal
The persistent growth in traffic through the 70s and 80s, fuelled by the boom in tourism, led to another, larger terminal being built. It was finally opened on November 30, 1991, and called the Pablo Ruiz Picasso.
The terminal, designed by the architect Ricardo Bofil, has two separate floors differentiating the flows of arrival and departure passengers. The building is joined to the old international terminal and is combined operationally with it.
To complete the new terminal, a vehicle car park was constructed in 1995 and remodelled later to incorporate car hire services.
The year 1995 also saw the restructuring and restoration begin on the old 1940s’ passenger building which became the general aviation terminal. In the northern area of the airport, a hangar was built for large aircraft maintenance and next to it a cargo terminal. Both went into service in 1996.
In November 2002, the airport took a further step in its development with the opening of a modern control tower with the latest technology, incorporating for the first time in a tower, the VICTOR system.
This system allows the visual presentation of all necessary data on a single console table, thereby facilitating the work and the operational agility of the controller.
The Malaga Plan
The growth in traffic that Malaga Airport has experienced in recent years has made it necessary to transform the facility yet again.
AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea) the Spanish Airports and Air Navigation body, has developed a strategy called the Malaga Plan, which aims to establish Malaga Airport as the shining light in Mediterranean tourist airports and facilitate the social and economical needs of the Malaga region and indeed in all of Andalucia. This will be the most important transformation of the airport in its recent history
The general objectives contained in Malaga Plan are to:
* Make Malaga Airport efficient and competitive for the airline companies and enable them to offer a better service to their users.
* Maintain the social, ecological and urban commitment to the area.
* Increase the access to the collective public transport.
* Promote and provide the social-economical development of Malaga and the Costa del Sol, encouraging tourism, attracting the external investments and promoting the establishment of new business in the region.
To meet the requirements of this plan an investment in infrastructure of around 730 million euros has been allocated. Work will continue in stages until around the year 2010.
Stage One is the construction of a new air terminal building of 251,000m2. This will be furnished with 20 new boarding gates and 86 check-in desks. It will house a nucleus attached to Terminal 2 (T2). The 20 boarding gates will allow access to 12 airlines through telescopic bridges and a further eight carriers through remote access. Once finished, this terminal will facilitate 9,000 passengers per hour – twice its current capacity - and 20 million passengers a year.
Also in this stage Terminal 1 (T1) will be modernised with a budget of six million euros, to absorb the increasing traffic until the new terminal is fully operational. This work will affect the ticketing area and the boarding zone on the ground floor.
The check-in area will increase in size and once finished, T1 will be able to accommodate 530 passengers per hour - part of this was finished in 2006.
Stage One also includes improvements such as the construction of more parking spaces with the building of a 51,000m2 new car park at a cost of 76 million euros, and the enlargement and rebuilding of the existing parking in the north area at an investment of 26 million euros.
The car park development includes a new bus station and transfer buses will carry passengers around the site.
Stage Two
The second stage will focus on the construction of the long-overdue second runway, with an investment of 96 million euros approximately.
The building of the runway is combined with a new airplane parking apron, a new power plant for the runway and a building to house the airfield’s fire service.
By the time the scheme is complete, the airport will be able to handle up to 75 take-offs or landings each hour.
The Malaga Plan will also connect the new air terminal with the train and bus network, ensuring ease of passenger access. For those travelling by car, it will be connected directly to the Autovia del Mediterraneo.
The Environment
Of course, with any huge redevelopment and expansion programme, environmental considerations have to be a key concern. The ecological wealth and diversity of Andalucia are elements which play a prominent role in the region. Therefore, the need to protect this natural heritage has become intrinsically linked to the strategy for economic and social improvement. Where possible the programme has aimed for sustainable development, confining activities and using methods that are compatible with conserving the environment.
Malaga Airport is located near to the mouth of the river Guadalhorce, an area that is home to a wide variety of wildlife, with 253 species of birds recorded. For this reason the terminal control area has 24 hectares of grassed sections planted with indigenous flora and fauna that support wildlife by providing food and oxygen.
Aware of the impact that airport activities can have on the environment and in keeping with Aena´s environmental quality policy, the airport has developed an environmental management system that identifies and evaluates the activities most likely to affect the environment, and endeavours to preserve the natural balance.
The new look Malaga Airport will be a long time in coming but hopefully the wait will be worth it. The larger, more modern facility will have an improved and much more attractive proposition for passengers.
This in addition to the improved capacity and handling provisions for carriers and operators will see more than 20 million people each year step into Andalucia, and that can only be a good thing for the those living, working and running businesses on the Costa del Sol. ::
Sponsored by
ESTEPONA KITCHEN DESIGN
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