Near miss on Malaga’s runway: Is air traffic control in dire need of a major upgrade?

A Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737 MAX 8 with over 180 passengers had to abort their landing in the last moment at Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport after spotting a smaller private jet still descending on the same runway. VIDEO BELOW.

It happened on Saturday, November 22, as Flight DY1800, en route from Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport (OSL)Descended towards Runway 12. Airbus 737 800 variant pilots (registration: LN FGF) spotted a business Embraer Phenom 300 aircraft on the lower runway. They immediately pulled up and performed a go-around. The Norwegian jet was able to climb safely, then circle briefly in a hold-up pattern. It made a second landing successfully 20 minutes later.

Two flights coincide at same time – pilot’s quick thinking averts tragedy

FlightAware data It confirms that the flight left Oslo on time for its 4-hour-13-minute trip. It arrived in Malaga at 3.52pm local time – about 22 minutes behind schedule – attributed to the go-around and air traffic adjustments. There were no injuries among the 189 passengers or crew. Airport operations resumed shortly after.

Aviation experts lauded the pilots‘ quick response as textbook, crediting advanced collision-avoidance systems and vigilant air traffic control (ATC) by ENAIRE. Source familiar with early reports stated that “this was a near miss of Category B, with the separation reduced to 500 meters horizontally.” The Embraer operated by a Spanish charter company cleared the runway just seconds before the potential collision, avoiding a catastrophe.

Malaga airport sees a huge increase in traffic

Malaga Airport in Spain, the third-busiest hub airport, struggles to keep up with a record increase of 2025 traffic. Over 190,000.00 aircraft movements are projected, an 8 per cent increase over last year. Although the MIDAS sequence system and dual runways keep major disruptions to a minimum, peak traffic will strain all resources. 

In 2025, power outages and wildlife incursions were the cause of go-arounds. ENAIRE, Aena and other agencies are reviewing the footage.

As winter routes expand and peak to 135 destinations, the €1.5 billion terminal expansion can’t come soon enough. Norwegian Air confirmed the event The crew was praised for their “standard safety procedures”.

It remains to be seen if Malaga Airport can handle the influx or if it needs a massive air traffic upgrade.