WTM Press Release - Budapest Airport bolsters route offering following successful World Routes.

Wednesday 30th October 2013

Following a highly successful World Routes event last month, Budapest Airport has bolstered its route offering and confirms that more route announcements are to come. The airport's Airline Development team held 49 highly productive meetings with airline groups at the top level Las Vegas event leading to the addition of a new route from Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA 'Norwegian' to London Gatwick Airport and increased frequency on Wizz Air's Moscow-Budapest route and EasyJet's service from Budapest to Basel.

EasyJet to go five times weekly to Basel from December:

EasyJet will add one additional service to its Budapest-Basel route from December 2013 bringing its total to five flights per week. The airline will now operate its Airbus A319 service on Thursdays as follows:

Depart BSL:    10:30  

Arrive BUD:    12:10

Depart BUD:   12:40

Arrive BSL:   14:25

Norwegian to start flights from Budapest to London Gatwick from March :

Norwegian, Norway's publicly-listed expanding low fare carrier, will commence three times weekly flights from Budapest to London, Gatwick Airport from March 30 next year.  Flights are on sale with immediate effect at www.norwegian.com with lead-in fares starting from £29.90 one way. The route will be operated by a Boeing 737 aircraft.

LGW-BUD

Tuesdays/Thursdays

Depart LGW:  11:15

Arrive BUD:  14:45

Sundays

Depart LGW: 11:45

Arrive BUD: 15:15

BUD-LGW

Tuesdays/Thursdays

Depart BUD: 15:15

Arrive LGW: 16:40

Sundays

Depart BUD: 15:45

Arrive LGW: 17:10

Budapest Airport welcomes the return of Vueling flights from Barcelona:

For summer 2014 Budapest Airport will once again welcome Spanish airline Vueling, which is re-introducing a regular scheduled flight between Barcelona and Budapest. The direct flights will operate on board an Airbus A320, 180 seat aircraft. Flights will depart three times a week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays three times a week from June to September, however, this is expected to be extended if the new service proves successful.

Vueling will offer economy and business class seats, as well as providing transfer opportunities for passengers in its route network. "We are delighted to welcome Vueling back to Budapest next summer. Their reappearance in the Hungarian market will definitely strengthen the Budapest - Barcelona route during the busiest tourism season," commented Kam Jandu, Chief Commercial Officer for Budapest Airport. "Vueling will offer another alternative for Hungarian and Spanish business and leisure passengers alike, in addition to the services already available. We wish Vueling all success!" he added.

Budapest wins multiple tourism accolades:

The city of Budapest has recently been recognised in three separate travel and tourism awards. The city took the second to top spot in Lonely Planet's latest list of top European destinations followed by Conde Nast Traveller's Readers Choice Awards which awarded Budapest, the second best destination city in the World in a tie with Florence. These accolades were further reinforced by Trip Advisor who awarded Budapest 'Best Value European City'.

Kam Jandu, Chief Commercial Officer at Budapest Airport comments: "We are very pleased to be increasing our service offering from Budapest to the benefit of our passengers. In the coming months we will be announcing further new route additions to our growing international route map. Budapest is a fascinating city with so much to offer, and it is great news  to hear that it has been recognized as one of the world's top destinations. We would like to think the airport's growing international accessibility plays a part in making Budapest such a popular destination."

About Budapest Airport:

Budapest Airport Zrt. operates Budapest Airport. The airport is privately owned with German company HOCHTIEF AirPort, one of the world's biggest independent airport managers holding a 49.67% stake, together with a further four financial investors: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montreal holding a 18.17% stake; Malton Investment Pte Ltd. holding a 18.17% stake; Aero Investment S.á.r.l. holding a 10% stake and KfW IPEX-Bank, Frankfurt holding a 4% stake.   Budapest Airport aims to be the best airport in the Central and Eastern European region and has been recognised for their development projects, customer services approach and marketing activities.

www.bud.hu