Posted by: Marian Visser van Klaarwater Posted on: Thursday 04 November 2010, 11:19

New flights in the winter scheduleThe first new flight of the winter season at Budapest Airport was KLM s Amsterdam flight, which arrived on 31 October. But the Dutch carrier is not the only new guest this winter at Budapest Airport, as Qatar Airways is launching a new flight to Budapest in January. The Gulf state carrier will initially fly the route between Doha and Ferihegy with Airbus A 320s, four times a week. Manchester-based airline Jet2.com is launching a new flight to Edinburgh, instead of the Glasgow-Prestwick flight discontinued by Ryanair. The flight was secured for the Hungarian capital through the cooperative efforts of Budapest Airport and the Hungarian National Tourism Organization, thereby offering an excellent destination for tourists and business travelers from the Scottish capital and Budapest alike. In response to the Dublin flight terminated by Ryanair, Malév is increasing the frequency of its flight to the Irish capital. Instead of the suspension of the service seen last winter, the Hungarian carrier will fly to Ireland six times a week.

Turkey

Wizz Air is launching two new flights from Budapest to Turkey, the Airbus A 320s will transport passengers to Istanbul s new low cost airport, whilst the other flight offers an aerial connection to the popular Antalya resort area. The biggest news in the long haul segment is that American Airlines will launch a daily flight between Budapest and New York Kennedy Airport in April. Passengers boarding the carrier s giant Boeing 767-300 can transfer to 300 other American Airlines flights operating to destinations in the US and beyond.

Austria, Germany

Budapest s competitiveness could be further boosted by the fact that in the last few days, Austria has followed in the footsteps of Germany in introducing an air travel tax. The new fee, introduced on an environmental pretext, will push ticket prices up for German and Austrian passengers by 8-20 euros, depending on the distance travelled. A number of airlines have sharply criticized the measure and have vowed to turn to the European Commission to protest the introduction of the new tax.

KLM Budapest Airport

KLM resumes own services to Budapest Airport After 5 years of break, KLM is relaunching its own services between Budapest and Amsterdam. Budapest was previously served in codeshare with and operated by Malév and from 31 October, KLM is discontinuing its cooperation with Malév. KLM will operate itself the new scheduled service using Boeing 737 equipment. Customers can choose between Economy and Europe Select Classes on board. With three daily services, the market will be well served for both local and connecting traffic.

Text: Marianne Visser van Klaarwater