HUNGARY: Activities At Budapest Airport

Having already confirmed 22 new routes during 2017, Budapest Airport’s largest airline will be significantly expanding its own operations from the Hungarian gateway this year. Adding 12 new links, the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) will offer 62 destinations from Hungary’s capital city airport, offering close to 4.5 million seats from Budapest throughout the year.

Launching the start of Budapest’s summer schedule, Wizz Air commenced its twice-weekly service to Faro on 1 April. Now offering 122,000 seats during S17 to Portugal, Budapest has witnessed a 140% increase in Portuguese services during the last twelve months. The ULCC faces no direct competition on its new service to the Algarve region as the link joins its existing operations to Lisbon and Porto.

Continuing to support the development of its home-base, Wizz Air has launched another two new services today. Reinstating Budapest’s direct link to Hannover with a four times weekly service, the new operation will satisfy the high volume of indirect traffic recorded from the region. The ULCC has also commenced its first direct flight to Norway from Hungary, starting its twice-weekly service to Bergen after increasing numbers of Hungarian travellers chose a Norwegian city break last year.

Later this week Budapest will welcome Wizz Air’s connection to Lamezia Terme. Seeing a rapid increase in the popularity of Italy as a leisure destination, the ULCC’s operation commencing 12 April, will be Budapest’s first direct link to the Italian city in the Calabria region.

Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport said: “The launch of Wizz Air’s latest links is a significant step in re-establishing good connections between Hungary and important economic destinations in the Balkan Peninsula. Working closely with Wizz Air we have ensured Budapest’s accessibility in the region, as well as further improving business relations between the countries.”

He added: “Wizz Air carried 3.3 million passengers on its Budapest routes last year and now, along with its latest additions to our network map, we look forward to ensuring the continued growth of
one of our largest airline partner’s services.”

Facing no direct competition on any of the routes, Budapest’s home-based carrier has launched twice-weekly services to each of the five Balkan Peninsula destinations seeing the Hungarian capital city grow its scheduled route network to 41 countries non-stop this summer.

Just days into S17, Budapest Airport has announced further expansion of its destination map, filling the white spot that was Kazakhstan. Confirming a twice-weekly service to Astana, Wizz Air will be linking the two capital cities from 8 June, utilizing the carrier’s fleet of 180-seat A320s on the 3,742 kilometer sector.

As Kazakhstan becomes Budapest’s 45th country market, the Central Asian operation means Wizz Air will now offer flights to 29 countries from its home-base. As the world’s youngest capital city, Astana can now be reached from Budapest in less than five hours as the ultra-low-cost-carrier’s (ULCC) direct link omits the previous need for connections via Istanbul, Prague or Minsk. Facing no direct competition on the airport pair, the ULCC’s new Kazakhstan connection joins the Hungarian gateway’s existing links in the region to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

“Filling another gap on our route map is proof of our continued commitment to be able to offer our passengers an ever-expanding selection of great destinations,” comments Balázs Bogáts, Head of Airline Development, Budapest Airport. “Wizz Air’s confirmation of Thursday and Sunday flights is perfect for a long weekend break for Hungarian and Kazakh travelers alike,” adds Bogáts.

Budapest Airport has announced further development in its expanding summer schedule with another welcome frequency increase on Air Canada rouge’s link to Toronto Pearson. Announcing just last November that the Canadian leisure carrier would be expanding its existing three times weekly operation from 19 May, three weeks earlier than 2016, the airline has confirmed the frequency will now be doubled during the peak season, commencing a six times weekly service from 21 June.

Experiencing a highly successful first year of operation, Air Canada rouge’s additional seasonal connections will mean Budapest’s weekly Canadian capacity will increase by another 20%, seeing an extra 7,300 seats to Canada during high summer. The airline’s additional services throughout S17 will give Air Canada rouge a 50% year-on-year capacity increase.

Commenting on the frequency increase, Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport, says: “Being able to announce yet more capacity on our Canadian link, and still less than a year after welcoming the Air Canada brand into our portfolio, is a great sign of the significant success the airline has experienced with us.” He added: “We continue to commit ourselves to offering a series of North American connections, in both business and leisure sectors, and these extra services will satisfy real demand.”