In April, Andalucia welcomed Routes Europe 2025 to Seville.
HONG KONG—Andalucia is building on a record year for tourism and a wave of new European services with ambitions to secure long-haul links to markets including North America, Asia and the Middle East.
The southern Spanish region welcomed 36.2 million visitors in 2024, up 5.5% year on year, with international arrivals climbing 11.5% to 13.6 million. More than 37 million visitors are expected in 2025, supported by strong capacity growth. Seat supply from North America has risen by 54% and from Europe by 15%, according to Junta de Andalucia figures.
Recent network developments include Scandinavian Airlines launching Copenhagen–Seville, Jet2.com adding Liverpool–Malaga and Eurowings introducing Dusseldorf–Seville earlier this year. Turkish Airlines also started daily Istanbul–Seville flights on Sept. 17.
Antonio Martín-Machuca Alés, cooperation manager at Junta de Andalucia, tells Routes that the expansion reflects a clear strategy to strengthen connectivity at all levels. “The region currently offers 530 routes from its six airports to 172 destinations across 37 countries, with Malaga alone boasting 157 destinations and Seville offering links to 76 destinations,” he says.
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Future priorities include targeting new long-haul markets outside Europe. This includes potential services to Miami, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Dubai, Shanghai and Tokyo, as well as U.S. gateways such as Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Toronto. Efforts are also underway to consolidate existing links to New York, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Riyadh and Kuwait.
To achieve this, Andalucia is combining incentive schemes and infrastructure upgrades with a presence at global aviation forums. The region hosted Routes Europe 2025 in Seville, holding more than 30 meetings with airlines, including American Airlines, Air China, Vueling and Turkish Airlines.
Martín-Machuca Alés says that Andalucia’s connectivity drive is closely tied to its broader tourism goals. “We are working to diversify tourism destinations and reduce seasonality, strengthen the premium tourism segment and promote sustainable, high-value travel,” he explains.
Challenges remain, particularly at Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport, which handled more than 22 million passengers in 2024 and is approaching capacity limits. Expansion plans are in development, but congestion could restrict growth. Seville and Granada airports face similar concerns if traffic continues to accelerate.
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