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Flight to Mallorca and Malaga

Hi friends of flying,

I am planning a trip from Augsburg EDMA to LEMG (Malaga) with a stopover in Son Bonet (Mallorca).
I am flying in my DA42. Unfortunately it is not a holiday, but a business trip… Is there anybody that might want
me to give some advise on airports or probably has alternate proposals.
I read here that LEMG is quite expensive,but LEAX does not look like an alternative, since the airstrip has only 637m.

So, any advise welcome!

EDMA

I used to be based there, so here goes, although I haven’t been back in two or three years now.

First of all, you don’t say if you are flying VFR or IFR. If IFR, then LEMG is probably your only choice (unless you either cancel IFR early or only do a could break and continue VFR to LEAX). The current fees and regs can be found on the AENA website. They do have a new GA terminal and you can park in front of it. The advantage of LEMG of course is that you have all the various ground services (taxis, etc) at your disposal.

As for LEAX. Don’t confuse LDA with TORA. It has a displaced threshold that is about halfway down the 3000ft rwy. Day VFR only, no lights. Nice little field, but in the middle of nowhere. They do normally have Avgas. No ground services whatsoever, so if you need a taxi, this will be an expensive exercise (IIRC around EUR 100 to Malaga city). I don’t know if they charge for parking, if so then it’s going to be a very nominal amount. Should you decide to go there then make arrangements how to get back to into the airfield, as it has controlled access and if you don’t have a key card (you won’t) and nobody’s around then you are stuck. If landing on the southerly rwy be aware that you will get windshear on short final in all but zero wind conditions. Although I hope you won’t need it, there is a big maintenance organization on the field.

HTH.

Edit: Oops, hadn’t realized you’re flying a DA 42. If this is a Jet-A driven one, then I think you can forget LEAX, I’m almost 100% sure they don’t have Jet-A or diesel.

Last Edited by 172driver at 29 Apr 19:16

Have you looked into LEGR as an alternative? That’s what I’m doing in two weeks for a weekend in Malaga. Not sure if this is too far out for you.

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

I flew into Granada here and got a hire car to Malaga. The drive was about 1.5hrs, over the mountains. Very scenic. Granada itself is a really scenic (in parts, anyway) old Spanish city and is probably more interesting as a city than Malaga.

The current costs at Malaga need to be checked in the Spanish AIP. I cannot believe is it too expensive for a one-off visit.

I went to La Axarquia too, e.g. here and here. I don’t recall any problem going there in the TB20. Usually the wind blows from the sea so you have to fly a fairly tight circuit to the other end of the runway. I cannot speak any Spanish and nobody in the circuit spoke any English, so I just made blind calls, went around a few times when I saw conflicting traffic, and landed eventually At other times the place was very sleepy.

Malaga is reportedly closed to VFR traffic on certain days, but all that should be in the AIP. To find the AIP, a quick procedure which usually works is to google on e.g.

LEMG AIP

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

AOPA Spain used to have a very nice guide on their internet page, which explained how to minimize the cost of handling. Unfortunately, this has been pulled.
In a nutshell, when you contact a handling for your PPR, make sure you state that you want “minimum handling only, as required by regulation”.

Malaga has a truckload of different handling agents. Contact a few and see how replies swiftly and with reasonable prices.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Well, I am learning at LEAX. So, I can confirm that it has both AvGas and Jet-A fuel. The Piper I fly has a Diesel engine.
The runway is a bit more than 900m. If I can land within that distance, surely you can land your DA-42 there ;-)

Yes, it takes almost 50 min to drive to Malaga. I haven’t done it but I guess one can contact this company Velez-Malaga (LEAX’s city) to ask about the rental with airport-pickup: http://rentacarcaleta.com.

The fuel guy comes around 9:30am and is there until 5-6pm. There is always some activity as long as the weather is VFR. And yes, you make radio calls in Spanish, but everyone responds to English as well.

EDMB, Germany

Thank you for the update, Arun. It’s great to hear there is good GA activity down there. I have been to a good number of Spanish airports, only to see no activity at all, and it got less and less in recent years.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

No problem Peter, but it seems I gave some wrong impressions. The activity at LEAX is due to many student pilots either learning or building their hours.

EDMB, Germany

I went to Malaga and they forced me into mandatory handling because of the wingspan of the DA42. It was around 250 euros IIRC. But this info is 4 years old..

Granada airfield is nice and hassle-free, no obligatory handling. Like Peter said, it may be a good idea to go there and hire a car. Very scenic drive to Malaga, especially the in-land route.

When do you plan to stop in Son Bonet? Can I invite you for a cup of coffee? Mind the fuel hours: 10:00-14:00 and 17:00-19:00, local times.

Private field, Mallorca, Spain

Thanks for your recommendations. Mor than I expected!!!
Think I will either choose LEAX or LEGR depening on the weather.
After your responds and what I already read, malaga does not seem to be that attractive…

@ Aart – will be landing in Son Bonet on Sat 14. MAY will send you a message a couple of days before…

EDMA
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