Budapest Airport Triumphs as European Champion in Routes Europe Airport Marketing Awards.

Wednesday 11th May 2011

Budapest Airport has been announced as the overall winner of this year's Routes Airport Marketing Awards during the Gala Dinner at the Routes Europe forum at the luxurious Forte Village resort in Cagliari, Italy. More than 700 aviation professionals gathered for the 6th Routes Europe conference.

Budapest Airport, a first time nominee in the awards, was commended for its "very polished and concise submission," by the judges. "The entry detailed route development incentives, in-depth market analysis, passenger research, the involvement of stakeholders and social media in joint campaigns and 13 new air services in the last 12 months, including Qatar Airways and American Airlines to New York," said Nigel Mayes, Vice President, UBM Aviation Routes, at last night's awards ceremony.

Dave Stroud, Executive Vice President, Airports, UBM Aviation, said: "The standard of marketing activities undertaken by airports never fails to impress me. Budapest Airport is a worthy winner and I am confident that their continued efforts will encourage many new routes and developments at the airport."

In collecting the award, Patrick Bohl, Head of Airline Development, Budapest Airport, said: "I was delighted to pick up the award in the Central & Eastern Europe category, but am absolutely thrilled to have won the overall European region prize ahead of such strong competition."

Director of Aviation at Budapest Airport, Kam Jandu said: "These awards represent the combined efforts of the entire Commercial team at Budapest Airport, who in the last two years have really made a quantum leap in putting Budapest Airport Airline Development and Marketing at the forefront of airline route development. It is especially gratifying to have our achievements acknowledged by industry experts and other key influencers."

The Routes Airport Marketing Awards have become synonymous with recognising and rewarding the highest standards of marketing activities undertaken by airports. They work on the core principal that the people who are best placed to judge an airport's marketing activities are its primary users: the airlines themselves.

After being nominated by airlines, the airports are then asked to submit details about their route development activity and results. A panel of judges considers these submissions and scores them based upon how it matches the entry brief, route development content, evidence of relationship with airlines, innovative ways of marketing to airlines, results, effectiveness and creative application.

The European regional awards are split into four categories: Scandinavia and the Baltics (winner Copenhagen Airport); Western Europe (winner Amsterdam Airport); Mediterranean and Southern Europe (winner Barcelona Airport) and Central & Eastern Europe (winner Budapest Airport).

About Budapest Airport:

Budapest Airport Zrt. operates Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. This is a public private partnership with the Hungarian State holding 25% and the remaining 75 percent owned by German company HOCHTIEF AirPort, one of the world's biggest independent airport managers, together with a further four financial investors: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montreal; GIC Special Investments, Singapore; and KfW IPEX-Bank, Frankfurt. In July 2008, Aero Investment S.á.r.l. became a new shareholder.

Through its BUD Future project Budapest Airport aims to be the aviation hub of the CEE region. Leading projects include:

SkyCourt - a new centrally located building which formally opened on 27 March 2011, and links the existing terminals 2a and 2b. The contemporary glass structure offers an impressive view of the apron and aims to provide passengers with a unique travel experience.

Cargo City - New on-airport cargo facilities will feature 140.000sqm of cargo and logistics terminals designed for airlines, handlers and integrators.

Budapest Airport incorporates two terminals. Terminal 1 is a dedicated low cost carrier terminal and Terminal 2 services the traditional carriers. The airport is also the base for Malev, Hungary's national airline and part of the One World alliance and is home to a further 32 airlines, serving over 92 destinations which represents 40 countries worldwide.

www.bud.hu