Málaga Airport terminal: step-by-step guide

Choose your journey

One terminal, five levels

Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport has one connected passenger terminal. Aena gives it as "PAX" in its flight information. The names T1, T2 and T3 belong to the buildings that were joined together and now survive only as zone labels, such as "Basement. Terminal 2" for car hire or the "T3 filter" at security. If your booking names a terminal, ignore it and follow your check-in desk number.

• Level 2 – airside upper level: VIP Lounge Costa del Sol, work areas, play area.
• Level 1 – Departures: drop-off forecourt, check-in, security, departures passport control, shops and restaurants, gates in piers B, C and D.
• Level E – airside intermediate level: bus gates B05/A05 to B08/A08.
• Level 0 – Arrivals: arrivals passport control, baggage reclaim, customs, arrivals hall, taxi, bus and train, bus gates B01/A01 to B04/A04.
• Level -1: car-hire desks and the coach station.

Watch the screens throughout: they give your check-in desks, your gate and your baggage carousel. Aena's indoor map and the Aena app also show routes inside the building.

Departing: from the kerb to the gate

Start with your airline's instructions and the departures board.

1. Arrive at level 1. Cars drop off at the departures forecourt on level 1. The train station access, the bus stop and the taxi rank are on level 0, so if you come by public transport you go up one level to check in.
2. Allow enough time. Aena recommends arriving 3 hours before a non-Schengen flight (the UK, Ireland, Morocco and long-haul) and 2 hours before a domestic or Schengen flight. Aena's Málaga page asks assisted passengers to arrive 2.5 hours before departure and to be at the meeting point at least 2 hours before departure; Aena's booking portal mentions 2.5 hours at the meeting point, so plan for 2.5 hours if you can. Check-in and gate closing times are set by your airline, not the airport.
3. Find your desk block. Check-in desks run in two series in two separate halls: the 200s (blocks 201–220, 221–240 and 241–265) and the 300s (blocks 300–320, 321–340, 341–362 and 363–386). The screens show which desks your flight uses; both halls are in daily use. Self-service check-in kiosks are published for Vueling and Norwegian, and free baggage scales are spread through the hall.
4. Special baggage. Items over 1.2 m long or over 50 kg count as special baggage and go to the special desk your airline indicates. Book sports equipment and other bulky items with the airline in advance.
5. VAT refund first. If you are claiming a tax-free refund, validate at the DIVA kiosks or the receipt-stamping office at desks 363–386 before you check in your bags, with the goods, invoices and boarding pass.
6. Go through security with your boarding pass ready (see Security and Fast Lane).
7. Passport control, if your flight is non-Schengen (see Passport control). Domestic and Schengen passengers go straight on to the gates.
8. Go to your gate when it appears on the screens (see Gates and bus boarding).

Security and Fast Lane

The security checkpoint is on level 1. Follow the signs and staff to the security lane in use.

• Boarding pass first. Aena states your boarding pass is checked before you go through the checkpoint; mobile boarding passes are read automatically. Aena installed automated boarding-pass gates at the entrance to the filters in 2022, including one extra-wide gate for wheelchairs.
• Liquids: pack them the standard way, in containers of up to 100 ml inside one transparent resealable bag of up to 1 litre, and take laptops and tablets out of your bag. Málaga does not publish any local relaxation of this rule, so assume the standard rule applies; if a sign or an officer at the lane says otherwise, follow them.
• At the tray: pockets emptied, jacket and hat off, electronic devices out of their cases and in separate trays, the liquids bag out separately. Medicines and baby food needed for the journey go outside the liquids bag.
• Refused items can be checked in, handed to someone who is not flying, or surrendered. Surrendered items are treated as waste and cannot be returned. Photography and filming at the checkpoint are not allowed.

Fast Lane is Aena's paid priority access to the security checkpoint, on level 1 in the departures zone and open 24 hours. You scan the QR code at the reader, then your boarding pass. It costs €11.10 per access (checked 9 October 2026); one purchase is one access, valid for three months, but if you reserve a date and time it can only be used from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after that slot. Some business-class and loyalty-card holders have it included; check with your airline. Fast Lane does not cover passport control, is not priority boarding, and, in Aena's words, does not exempt you from undergoing security checks in good time before departure. More on the Fast Lane page.

Families and reduced mobility: Aena has said Málaga has a security lane for families and passengers with reduced mobility, and the hidden-disabilities badge is intended to give the holder and their companions access to it. Aena does not publish where it is or when it is open, so ask at the Barrier Free desk or show the badge at the filter and ask; staff will direct you.

Passport control and the Schengen split

Passport control at Málaga depends on the Schengen area, not the EU:

• Schengen and domestic flights, including Melilla and Ceuta: no passport control.
• Ireland and Cyprus: EU members outside Schengen, so passport control applies.
• The United Kingdom and every other non-Schengen country: passport control applies. For entry to the UK, an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) has been required since 2 April 2025 for most nationalities; British and Irish citizens do not need one. Your airline checks this, not the airport.

Departures passport control is after security on level 1. Aena's standing notice at Málaga asks everyone who must clear it to go to the boarding area as soon as the gate is shown on the screens; the passport queue is what makes people late, not the walk.

Málaga's shops, restaurants and the VIP lounge are past security. Aena does not publish which of them are also past passport control, which is the gate most UK- and other non-Schengen-bound passengers go through. If you are flying outside the Schengen area, do your shopping and eating, and use the lounge, before you join the passport queue, and once your gate shows on the screens, go to it.

The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) is in operation: non-EU nationals on short stays are registered with their face and fingerprints, and their passports are no longer stamped. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, including Irish citizens, use their own lanes and are not registered in EES. Border control is carried out by the Policía Nacional. See security and passport control.

Gates, piers and bus boarding

• Piers B, C and D on level 1. Gates in Aena's flight data for October 2026 ran from B14 to B27, C30 to C40 and D42 to D74. Aena records 12 airbridges for direct boarding built with the 2010 terminal.
• Paired gate numbers mean a bus. Gates labelled B01/A01 to B04/A04 (level 0) and B05/A05 to B08/A08 (level E) are bus-boarding gates: you take a bus to an aircraft on a remote stand and usually climb steps. Allow extra time, especially with children or reduced mobility; lifts serve these levels.
• The far D gates are a long walk from security. Go as soon as the gate is announced on the screens, and earlier if you need passport control.
• Lounge: the VIP Lounge Costa del Sol is on level 2, airside, with published hours of 04:00–00:00 (checked 9 October 2026). The VIP Lounge Relax & Go is temporarily closed. See lounges.
• Airside facilities published by Aena include work areas on levels 0, 1 and 2, rest areas in modules B, C and D, a family and breastfeeding room on level 1 between zones B and C, children's play areas, currency exchange, the tax-refund office, ATMs and drinking fountains. Aena information desks are in boarding area D and opposite the security checkpoints.

Priority boarding is an airline product applied at the gate. It is unrelated to Fast Lane.

Arriving: from the aircraft to the arrivals hall

1. Leave the aircraft by airbridge or, from a remote stand, by bus to the lower-level gates. If you booked assistance, Aena asks you to wait on board to be met.
2. Passport control, only if you arrive from outside Schengen, including flights from Ireland, Cyprus and the UK. It is on level 0, before baggage reclaim. Non-EU nationals are registered in EES (face and fingerprints, no stamp). Flights from Schengen countries and domestic flights go straight to the baggage hall.
3. Baggage reclaim on level 0. There are three carousel blocks: 23–30, 31–34 and 35–41. Baggage checked in outside the European Union comes to carousels 31–34, according to Aena's standing notice; the rule follows where the bag was checked in, so a bag checked through from a non-EU origin counts as non-EU. The screens confirm your carousel. An information desk for passengers with reduced mobility is published at carousel 20.
4. Customs is in the reclaim hall, with red and green channels. Use the red channel if you have goods to declare. Customs and immigration operate 24 hours.
5. Tour-operator desks. If you booked a package with a transfer, the tour operators' desks are inside the arrivals area, before you reach the public hall.
6. Arrivals hall, level 0. Aena information desk, the Málaga city council and Junta de Andalucía tourist offices, the police station, ATMs and the exits to ground transport. The Málaga Arrivals Shop is in the airside arrivals area if you need something before you leave.

Missing or damaged baggage

Checked baggage is handled by ground-handling companies on behalf of the airlines, not by Aena. If your bag is missing or damaged:

• Report it before you leave the reclaim hall, at your airline's or its ground handler's baggage desk on level 0, and get a Property Irregularity Report (PIR). Your airline and insurer will ask for it.
• Time limits: claim from the airline within 7 days for damaged baggage and within 21 days for delayed baggage.
• Do not go to lost property for a missing suitcase. Aena's lost property office (level 1, opposite check-in desk 380, before security) deals with objects lost inside the airport. Items left on the aircraft are the airline's responsibility.

More on the baggage page and the lost and found page.

Leaving the terminal

• Taxi: the official rank is outside Arrivals on level 0. Fares are regulated and metered, and every Málaga taxi must accept card payment. See taxi.
• Bus: the bus stop is on level 0, Arrivals. EMT Express line A runs to Málaga centre for €4 (checked 9 October 2026); Avanza coaches serve Marbella and the western Costa del Sol, with a ticket office opposite the T3 Arrivals exit; ALSA routes to Granada, Seville, Nerja and Motril call at the airport stop on some services. See bus.
• Train: follow the signs reading "Access to RENFE local trains" to the Cercanías C-1 station, with trains to Málaga Centro-Alameda and to Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola. The C-1 ends at Fuengirola; there is no train to Marbella. See transport.
• Uber and Bolt: they pick up from the arrivals car park on Floor 0, reached by lift or escalator down from arrivals and then across a pedestrian crossing. No step-free route is published, so if you use a wheelchair, a walking aid or a loaded trolley, book Barrier Free assistance or take a taxi from the rank outside arrivals instead, which needs no road crossing. Aena also publishes a meeting point for VTC and shuttle-bus companies on level 0.
• Car hire: go down to level -1, the zone Aena labels "Basement. Terminal 2", for Avis, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz, Proa, Record Go and Sixt. For OK Rent a Car, Aena's sources disagree on the location, so confirm the collection point with the company. See car hire.
• Coaches: the coach station on level -1 (docks 1–20 and 26–50) is mainly used by tour-operator and transfer coaches.
• Car parks: Aena publishes five car parks: Express, Arrivals, General, VIP and Long-stay. Aena describes the Express area as the one closest to departures, and the long-stay car park is served by a free on-demand shuttle, 24 hours. Go by the signs. See parking.

Connecting passengers

How you connect at Málaga depends on your ticket:

• One booking with bags checked through: confirm at your first check-in that the bags are tagged to your final destination and whether your second boarding pass has been issued. Follow your airline's transfer instructions and the screens for your next gate. If your onward flight is non-Schengen, you pass departures passport control before the gate.
• Separate tickets (self-transfer): treat the connection as an arrival followed by a new departure. Clear passport control if you arrive from outside Schengen, collect your bags on level 0, go up to level 1, check in again and clear security (and passport control if the next flight is non-Schengen). Neither airline owes you anything under EU delay rules for a connection missed because of the other airline. If you miss an outbound flight but want to keep the return, tell the airline within 24 hours of the missed flight's scheduled time.
• Bags from outside the EU arriving on a through ticket still come out at carousels 31–34 if you have to collect them.
• Duty-free bought after security travels in a sealed bag with the receipt; keep it sealed until your final destination, especially if you have another security check on the way.
• Assistance in transit: Aena's Barrier Free service also covers transfers, guiding you through security and passport control; book it 48 hours ahead as for any flight.

Assisted passengers and families

• Barrier Free assistance (Aena's free service for passengers with reduced mobility) should be requested at least 48 hours before departure through your airline and also via Aena's website, the Aena app or (+34) 91 321 10 00 (line open 07:00–00:00, checked 9 October 2026). Aena's Málaga page asks assisted passengers to arrive 2.5 hours before departure and to be at the meeting point at least 2 hours before departure; Aena's booking portal mentions 2.5 hours at the meeting point, so plan for 2.5 hours if you can.
• Meeting points are published at the departures forecourt and lobby by desks 200 and desks 300, in the check-in area, opposite the security checkpoints, at the arrivals forecourt, next to the railway station, at the car parks, at the level -1 bus station and in the baggage reclaim hall. Call points let you announce your arrival.
• Silent Lounge: a quiet room on level 1 in the boarding area. Aena says to ask the airport's passenger service for access, subject to availability.
• Hidden-disabilities badge: Málaga is on Aena's list of airports where the badge can be used, on the day of your flight. It does not give Fast Lane access. The sunflower lanyard is not equivalent to Aena's badge.
• Families: a free family and breastfeeding room airside on level 1 between zones B and C, and children's play areas on levels 0, 1 and 2.

Full details on the special assistance page.