Málaga Airport faces emergency landing and drone-related disruptions

Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport experienced two separate aviation incidents over a weekend.

On Saturday, a Eurowings flight traveling from Málaga to Stuttgart was forced to return to the airport after the crew declared a ‘Pan-Pan’ emergency due to a suspected blocked landing gear. Air traffic controllers managed the situation by reserving runway 12 for the emergency aircraft and diverting other traffic to runway 13. The aircraft landed and vacated the runway without incident.

On Sunday, airport operations were temporarily suspended for approximately 50 minutes following reports from multiple pilots regarding a drone near the end of runway 12. The security alert led to the diversion of eight flights to nearby airports in Seville and Alicante-Elche. Affected flights included those arriving from Madrid, Tirana, Birmingham, Bristol, London, and Cork. Security forces investigated the area and found no drone, allowing operations to resume after the threat was cleared.