Budapest Airport marks successful first six months of 2012.

Thursday 2nd August 2012

Budapest Airport reports that it has made a strong recovery since the unfortunate bankruptcy of Hungary's national airline, Malév, in February.

A period which could have left the airport in turmoil, has in fact seen the airport, its airline customers (new and existing) and its partners, pull together in an impressive show of solidarity and optimism.

"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."

• Six new airlines, 13 destinations added:

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.

• Highlights include:

• Wizz Air basing their fifth and sixth aircraft at Budapest for launches on new routes like Dortmund and increasing frequencies on a wide range of existing destinations.• Aegean Airlines, a new airline partner operating to Athens• Jet2.com has added twice-weekly services to Leeds, UK• airBaltic has commenced services to the Latvian capital of Riga• Transavia has launched flights to Amsterdam• Blue1 is now operating twice weekly flights to Helsinki in Finland• Brit Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France, has started services to Lyon Saint Exupéry in France• Tarom has increased its Bucharest frequency to three times daily• TAP has increased frequency to Lisbon from seven to eight flights per week.

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. Budapest Airport, in partnership with the Hungarian National Tourist Office (together with the Hungarian Convention Bureau) and Budapest Tourism will host this key industry event next year, working together to give delegates an occasion to remember. The event will be staged at the SYMA Sport and Event Center in Budapest during 12-14 May 2013.

In its successful application to host Routes Europe 2013, Budapest Airport and its partners had to demonstrate the ability to suitably accommodate the event against some strong competition. "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.

• 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