Malaga Airport News Blog about Malaga Airport (AGP)

The Spanish Ministry of Development opened today the two remaining sections to complete of the so-called Hiperronda of Malaga. The said highway is born with the mission to facilitate communications between the western and eastern Costa del Sol and will also benefit all those vehicles with destination to or from Seville, Cordoba and Granada.

The new highway will permit to travel from one end of the province of Malaga to the other without having to go through the capital and, therefore, escape the usual congestions that occur in several of its access roads.

This new road map will be completed tomorrow with the opening of the toll highway Las Pedrizas, an alternative to the historic entry from the interior of the peninsula and with a far more uniform road curse and wide curves, enabling a constant maximum speed of 120km/h.

Also the tourism sector will benefit a lot from this huge step forward. On completion of the new access to Malaga airport from the western Costa del Sol and the ring road of San Pedro (Marbella), Malaga may presume a road network according to its true potential.

Strike at Malaga Maria Zambrano train station June 2011

25% of long distance trains and suburban trains in Malaga can be affected by strikes on September 29.

Union sources indicated that the strike will affect around 25% of commuter trains and long distance trains, ranging the minimum services of suburban trains in Seville, Malaga and Cadiz between 75 and 50% in peak hours and between 43 and 50% during the rest of the day.

The strikes will also affect middle-distance or regional trains and long distance trains, including high-speed trains, both day and night.

As of September 11, the waiting time for suburban trains at Malaga airport is reduced to 20 minutes. Every hour will circulate six trains, three originating in Malaga and three in Fuengirola; thus the daily supply of places in this commuter line will increase by 48%.

The first train leaves the station in Malaga Centro-Alameda at 5:30 am and at 6:20 am in Fuengirola. The last departures are at 10:20 pm from the capital and one hour later from Fuengirola. Travelers will have hourly trains departing from Malaga at 10, 30 and 50 minutes and from Fuengirola at 00, 20 and 40 minutes.

The new schedule will help to strengthen connections with Malaga airport station, whose passengers will be able to enjoy enhanced suburban train links and also the various middle-distance services and high-speed trains connecting with María Zambrano station.

Suburban train at station Malaga Maria Zambrano

Users of the suburban train Malaga-Fuengirola will have to wait less to catch a train from next September 11. That day will start operating the new frequencies that will reduce the time of passage of current thirty minutes to twenty. This is possible thanks to the work of widening of tracks which culminated last January.

During Easter Renfe did a test with the new frequencies that worked perfectly and which had a great acceptance among travelers. This test will be repeated in August, coinciding with the celebration of the Fair in Malaga.

From September 11 onwards, the departures from Malaga and will be at ten, thirty and 50 minutes past the full hour, and from Fuengirola at the full hour, at twenty and forty minutes past the full hour.

The start and end of the service will continue as before, starting around 5:30 am and finishing at 10:30 pm.

The line joining the most popular towns on the Costa del Sol such as Fuengirola, Benalmadena and Torremolinos with Malaga airport and Malaga city centre was used last year by more than eight million passengers. This improve is expected to bring an increase in the number of users, especially those with arrival or departure at Malaga airport, which in the first quarter of this year has grown by 41%.

Cheap deals sometime can get costly. This is the opinion of the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) of many low cost airlines. Although OCU says that thanks to the cheap ‘low cost’ a lot more people can travel, it warns that these companies “even charge you for breathing.”

Thus, on the occasion of the Easter holidays, the OCU has developed a list of expenses ‘extra’ of low cost airlines which the passenger might not have expected.

For issuing the boarding pass: Certain low cost airlines charge passengers for printing boarding passes. The prices were in some cases up to 40 € for example, with Ryanair. Justice now considers abusive this clause.

For billing the suitcase: Travelers flying with ‘low cost’ airlines such as Vueling, Ryanair and EasyJet have to pay for billing the suitcase. Moreover, some of them charge different amounts if you have not billed it at the time of reservation, but at the airport.

For billing a second suitcase: Iberia also charges for the second bag, joining other companies, in addition to those charging to the traveler any baggage.

For carrying more kilos of luggage: Normally the limit is 20 kilos. Above that amount it costs a lot more. The companies apply varying criteria. For example, Ryanair charges 20 Euros more per kilogram over the 15 kg.

For choosing seat: Companies such as Vueling charge for choosing your seat.

For early boarding: Generally, all companies charge for what is called ‘priority boarding’, i.e. getting on the plane first in order to avoid queues. The price varies considerably depending on the company.

For a coffee: Cafeteria service is also charged to the traveler’s pocket. Furthermore, prices are not precisely popular. A coffee or a drink on the plane costs about 3 Euros, a beer 5 Euros and a sandwich than more 6 Euros.

In case of low-cost carriers, most do not include baggage insurance in the standard price, and it’s offered as an optional charge.

How to avoid paying too much?

• Check if you are offered alternatives to waive the charge for card payment (for example, Ryanair will not charge you if you pay with a prepaid MasterCard card.)

• Print your boarding pass beforehand

• Plan your luggage carefully. Try to limit yourself to one suitcase or carry-on luggage.

• Check the dimensions and weight of hand luggage allowed, otherwise you will be forced to check-in the bag.

• If you have to check-in, indicate it in the booking.

• Check the website of the airline you fly with to see the requirements, limitations etc.

The OCU recommends taking these precautions so that “if they charge you, at least you won´t be caught by surprise.”

Source: el mundo.es