Airport News
Budapest Airport has reported a successful first six months of 2012 despite the loss of Hungary’s national airline Malév in February due to bankruptcy.
“The void left by Malév offered numerous business opportunities for carriers both flying into or establishing bases at Budapest,” said aviation director Kam Jandu. “As a result, traffic is only 11% down on last summer and some 80% of the point to point traffic delivered by Malev has swiftly recovered.
“We remain committed to being the best and leading airport in the Central/Eastern European region and despite the loss of a major airline, it is pleasing that our summer 2012 programme is being operated by 33 airlines (the same number as last year), serving 88 destinations across 41 countries. As of the second quarter 2012, our airlines are enjoying an average load factor of 72.1%, an increase of 3.8% on the same period in 2011.”
To date this year, Budapest Airport has welcomed six new airlines and 13 new destinations have been added to the Budapest route map. A total 38 of the 58 destinations operated by Malev have been replaced.
In February, Ryanair announced its return to Budapest Airport and within months it had positioned five aircraft at the airport, launching a total of 30 new routes to destinations across Europe, including, Birmingham, Lubeck, Malaga, Paphos, Alicante, Venice, Dusseldorf-Weeze and Billund.
In a further boost, Budapest Airport has been selected to host Routes Europe 2013. In partnership with the Hungarian National Tourist Office (together with the Hungarian Convention Bureau) and Budapest Tourism, the airport will host this key industry event next year. The event will be staged at the SYMA Sport and Event Center in Budapest on 12-14 May 2013.
“We are delighted to have been selected to host Routes Europe 2013,” said Budapest Airport CEO Jost Lammers. “We sincerely believe that Hungary and Budapest is a worthy venue for such a prestigious and recognised industry event. We aim to put on a great conference to guarantee delegates’ satisfaction for both business and leisure purposes.”
