Budapest Airport hosts Gala Awards.

Tuesday 21st February 2012

Budapest Airport entertained airline operators, travel agencies, hotel partners and other travel trade associates at its annual gala dinner and awards night at VAM Design Center in Budapest last Thursday, 16th February.

Some 180 guests participated in an evening of networking and enjoyed a fun presentation under the slogan: Quiz of the Year.

The airport's CEO Jost Lammers, gave a brief speech prior to the Awards ceremony: "2011 was a record year in terms of passenger traffic performance and we reached over 8.9m passengers thanks to our airline partners," he said.

Acknowledging the collapse of the country's national airline, Malev, earlier this month, he added: "Business continues and we have been very pleased with the fast recovery of some of the lost traffic already, though there is still much to be done.

Looking ahead, we need to ensure that Hungarian aviation grows from Budapest, the capital city, as history shows that it is what people are looking for. We know that one million extra passengers bring over a thousand extra workstations and major positive effects for the economy. It is important that all stakeholders work together to make us competitive within the marketplace."

Jost Lammers and Kam Jandu, the airport's Aviation Director, presented the awards recognising operational excellence and outstanding growth.

The winners were:

• Best Developing Full Service Airline: Lufthansa
• Best Developing Low Cost Carrier: Wizz Air
• Fastest Growing Full Service Airline: LOT Polish Airlines
• Fastest Growing LCC Airline: Jet2.com
• Best Marketing: Qatar
• Best Developing Full Service Newcomer: KLM
• Best Developing Cargo Newcomer: Turkish Airlines
• Best Developing Cargo Airline: Cargolux
• Best Performing Travel Agency: Vista
• Most Active Tour Operator: Neckermann
• Best Environmental Performance: Norwegian Airlines.

The evening progressed with dinner and networking.Photo: Jost Lammers, Budapest Airport CEO (2nd from left) and Kam Jandu Budapest Airport Director Aviation (7th from left) together with representatives from the award winning companies.

About Budapest Airport:

Budapest Airport Plc., the operator of Ferenc Liszt International Airport, is owned by a consortium of German (4%), Canadian (18.167%), American (10%) and Singaporean (18.167%) investors led by HOCHTIEF Concessions (49.666%). Currently, the two terminals of the airport are home to 32 airlines, which transported nearly 8.2 million passengers to more than 92 destinations in 40 countries in 2010.

Budapest Airport's goal is to become the leading airport in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of traffic growth 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 261 million 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, and also expands throughput.

In 2011, Budapest Airport began a new project, the Cargo City development near Terminal 2, with 26 000 square meters of cargo storage areas and a logistics park due to be built in the first phase. Also in 2011, Budapest Airport commenced the planning and construction of a new engine test stand near the Lufthansa Technik hangar.

The long-awaited environmental protection project will be accompanied by numerous other developments, whereby Budapest Airport is contributing to the implementation of a sustainable aeronautical model.

www.bud.hu/english