Budapest Airport announces new Air France flights to Lyon.

Thursday 3rd May 2012

Budapest Airport has announced that French regional airline Brit Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France, will begin new direct scheduled services between Lyon Saint Exupéry airport and Budapest commencing 19 June.

The new flights will operate twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, until the end of October, utilising 100-seat Bombardier CRJ 1000 aircraft.

2012 Schedule:

• 19 June-12 July:

Depart Lyon 10:55 Arrive Budapest 13:00Depart Budapest 13:40 Arrive Lyon 15:40

• 17 July-30 Aug:

Depart Lyon 09:35 Arrive Budapest 11:40Depart Budapest 12:25 Arrive Lyon 14:20

• 04 Sept-25 Oct:

Depart Lyon 10:55 Arrive Budapest 13:00Depart Lyon 13:40 Arrive Budapest 15:40

Local times are shown.

Tickets are available to book now at:

www.airfrance.com.

Lyon is the second largest city in France after Paris, and is also one of the largest industrial centres in the European Union. It is equally important in terms of commerce, serving as the other major economic hub in France besides the capital. Owing to its location, Lyon has excellent commercial relations and connections with Italy and Switzerland. The most important industries in the city are chemicals and mechanical engineering with science, research and development and education also strongly represented. Lyon has two airports with Brit Air operating to Budapest from the larger international Saint-Exupéry Airport.

"We warmly welcome Brit Air and the new destination offered from Budapest," said Kam Jandu, Aviation Director for Budapest Airport. "Lyon is a very important business and tourism destination in France and we have been working on establishing this new flight for several years. I am sure that this route will be extremely popular amongst passengers in both France and in Hungary."

"We have been planning to operate a direct flight between Budapest and Lyon for a long time," commented Botond Melles, Country Manager for Air France-KLM in Hungary. "Lyon has been one of the most sought-after destinations amongst our business travellers and corporate clients from Budapest for years, but so far a direct flight has not been available. From now on Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France with its numerous world-famous restaurants boasting Michelin stars, is just two hours away. We are delighted that from June we have managed to make Lyon accessible to passengers from Budapest."

Brit Air, an Air France subsidiary based in Morlaix (Brittany), operates around 300 daily flights to destinations in France and Europe. The airline operates a fleet of 39 regional aircraft made up entirely of Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) models; the smallest is the CRJ100 able to accommodate 50 passengers and the largest is the CRJ1000, which will be used on the Budapest route.

Air France, with its regional subsidiaries, operates 1,500 daily flights in France, Europe and worldwide.

• About Budapest Airport:

Budapest Airport Zrt. operates Budapest Airport. This 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 best airport in the Central and Eastern European region and have been recognised for their development projects, customer services approach and marketing activities

www.bud.hu