Shanghai Airlines will operate two flights a week from Ningbo to Budapest and 10 passenger flights a week will connect Budapest and China.Continue reading
Passenger numbers at Budapest Airport reached 1.5 million in July. Kam Jandu, CEO of the Ferenc Liszt International Airport, told Aviation Week in an interview that this was the fifth month this year that more than 1 million people had passed through the airport. A total of 121 destinations are available in the summer schedule, with 38 airlines offering direct flights, reports Airportál.
According to the CEO, the airport will serve 14.3 million passengers for the full year, only 9.2% below the record year of 2019. Based on the positive traffic trends, he believes that by the end of 2024, the airport’s traffic will fully return to pre-pandemic levels and be back on a growth path.
He stressed that one of his top priorities is to
restart transatlantic flights between Budapest and New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Toronto.
Several North American flights are expected to return in 2024, and direct flights to Chinese cities (Xian and Xinjiang) will be restored. American Airlines recently announced several new European destinations from Philadelphia.
Xinjiang. Photo: Facebook/Xinjiang
The executive points out that there are currently no traditional airlines that offer connections through Budapest, but individual (self-connecting) passengers use a variety of transfer options at the airport. Airport operators are working on developments that will increase the number of transit passengers by taking advantage of their geographical location and the wide choice of low-cost airlines.
The airport’s current infrastructure is capable of handling more than 16 million passengers per year, which could be increased by an additional 4.5-5 million passengers with the expansion of Terminal 1.
The construction of Terminal 3 is expected to increase capacity to 30 million passengers per year. While the design and preparation of the new terminal is still underway, the improvements required for the expansion of Terminal 1 are awaiting construction permits, added Kam Jandu.
Moreover, new routes will also be launched this year, with two flights a week connecting Budapest to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, from September.
Featured image: Pixabay
