Direct Flights to New York on the Horizon

Zoltán Guller, president of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, gave an interview to Index, during which he touched on the record tourism figures and future plans. As it turned out, intensive negotiations are underway to launch flights to the US, and an agreement with New York could be reached soon.

Zoltán Guller pointed out that a basic rule is that tourism is built on air bridges. In the interview, he highlighted that last year, 107,000 flights were operated at Liszt Ferenc International Airport, up 17 percent compared to 2023, and the number of passengers using the airport reached 17.6 million by the end of last year, almost a fifth more than the previous year.

“We are also actively working to create new air links with key sending markets, especially overseas and distant countries such as the United States and China. The latter is already well on track, with 21 flights a week to seven Chinese destinations, making Budapest the regional market leader,” the president of the Hungarian Tourism Agency said. Regarding the United States, he added that the importance of the development of overseas flights is shown by the fact that before the coronavirus pandemic, three cities – Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York – had connections to Budapest.

We are currently negotiating with three airlines and aim to have direct flights to several cities in the United States this year. In the case of New York, negotiations are very intense and we will announce the formal agreement as soon as it is finalized.”

As Guller recalled, the market demand is also reflected in the fact that during the Budapest Influencer Trip last spring, 40 percent more Americans booked accommodation in Budapest. Reflecting on Donald Trump becoming the US President, he said that Hungary’s relationship with the US is changing and “we think it will help not just to launch one flight but more, however, for now we are focusing on the first stepping stone.” He pointed out that

the average daily spend of American tourists in Budapest hotels is the highest, 142,000 forints (362 dollars), more than double that of Italians, for example.

They also have a different age composition and interests: they are more attracted by culture and programs than, for example, the party district. “Our clear aim is to make America the number one foreign market for Budapest. With direct flights, this could be achieved by the end of the year or by 2026.”

The president of the Hungarian Tourism Agency also talked about campaigns to attract tourists starting from the second half of February. A larger-scale promotion activity will be launched in the German market at that time – the agency’s target for this year is to attract half a million extra guests from there alone. “Furthermore, in addition to leisure tourism, we are also giving top priority to boosting business tourism, where we are setting up a new HUF 400 million (EUR 991,100) fund for congress and conference organizers to apply for support through a competitive bidding system to bring more business events to Hungary,” he said.

Via Index, Featured photo via Pixabay