Budapest Airport continues to receive offers from airlines wishing to operate services to or from Budapest since the collapse of Malév on Friday 3 February. A series of airlines have already announced new services including: Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Aegean, Ryanair, Smart Wings and Wizz Air, thus contributing to the recovery. This is in addition to the existing airlines efforts, many of whom have increased capacities on their routes into Budapest.
Just 5 days after the national carrier stopped flying, Budapest Airport is delighted to report that in more than 60% of the Malev point to point traffic has been recovered with the new capacities announced. Better still, most of these services will become effective over the next few weeks, ensuring that passengers will not experience too much disruption in their travel plans.
"Whilst the earlier assumptions of a complete loss of transfer traffic have been validated, the announcements made by the airline community since last Friday have put us on the road to recovery," commented Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport.
Budapest Airport is doing its best to attract new airlines, launch new destinations and increase frequencies on existing routes with high demand. Airlines in both the traditional and the low-cost segment have responded positively, some new flights are already operating, with others commencing in the near future.
Aviation director Kam Jandu stated: "The announcements made in the last few days confirm our long held view that Budapest is indeed a primary destination for many airlines as they bid to grow their presence here in the absence of Malév. In spite of this early success, a gap remains in our business plan and we welcome discussions with airlines interested in services to Budapest Airport. Our published charges and incentive scheme are available to all airlines expressing an interest."
Even though the above mentioned encouraging developments show signs of recovery of point-topoint traffic the complete loss of 1.5 million annual transfer passengers and income generated by them creates an extremely difficult financial situation for the airport. In order to be able to cope with this dramatic situation Budapest Airport calls the Ministry Of National Development and the relevant authorities to take urgent and coordinated joint steps together with the airport.
More information:
Mihály Hardy
communication director
Budapest Airport Zrt.
Tel: +36 1 296-6753
Mobile: +36 30 327-2372
Email: <nobr>mihaly.hardy@bud.hu</nobr>
Notes to editors
Budapest Airport Plc., the operator of Ferenc Liszt International Airport is owned by a consortium of German (KfW IPEX-Bank 4%) Canadian (Caisse de depôt et placement de Québec 18,167%), American (Aero Investment 10 %) and Singaporean (Malton Investments Pte Ltd. 18,167%) investors led by HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH (49,666%). Currently, the two terminals of the airport are home to 31 airlines, which transported nearly 8.9 million passengers to more than 92 destinations in 40 countries in 2011.
Budapest Airport’s goal is to become the leading airport in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of growth, efficiency and service quality. To this end, the company is undertaking significant investments in order to expand its capacities, and has committed to spending a total of 261million Euros (approximately 75 billion HUF) by the end of 2011 on developments. The most significant of these is the construction of the SkyCourt, a new terminal building linking Terminals 2A and 2B. The elegant, high-quality SkyCourt provides an unforgettable architectural and travel experience, as well as a rich selection of shops and restaurants. The new terminal makes traveling through the airport simpler and more convenient, as well as expanding throughput.