Budapest Airport Has High Aspirations for 2014

Budapest Airport is set to welcome a number of new airlines and further increase its route network during the summer 2014 schedule as it uses a successful 2013 as a platform for further development. It has been a tough few years for the airport, Hungary’s largest air gateway, following the collapse of national carrier Malev in February 2012, but the past year, during which it hosted our Routes Europe forum, has seen it continue to back fill the lost capacity and introduce links into new markets.

From the beginning of the summer season, Norwegian will be adding a fifth route to its Budapest network, launching a thrice-weekly service to London Gatwick. Connections to the UK will be boosted still further by the inauguration of services by Jet2.com from Leeds Bradford, following large demand this destination is returning to Budapest, offering a twice-weekly service from April 3, 2014.

Wizz Air continues to be an active and ever-growing airline at Budapest, basing its eighth aircraft at the airport this summer and commencing its 30th service with a weekly flight to Alicante from June 4, 2014. The airport will also welcome its first flight from Wizz Air’s subsidiary airline, Wizz Air Ukraine, inaugurating a twice-weekly service to Donetsk on April 30, 2014.

Two further new airlines will commence services from Budapest in 2014, with the airport welcoming Vueling and Air Serbia. With flights to Belgrade, Air Serbia will begin its new connection to Hungary on March 30, 2014, the airport’s second link to the Serbian capital. From June 20, 2014, Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling will begin Budapest’s third connection to Barcelona with a twice-weekly service.

Meanwhile, with an increase of flight frequencies, Budapest is also experiencing growth on a number of existing successful routes. From January 20, 2014, Brussels Airlines will introduce five additional flights on its route to Brussels, increasing frequency 42 per cent and seat capacity 35 per cent. An additional six flights from LOT Polish Airlines on the Warsaw route will increase the carrier’s capacity by a fifth, while Belavia will add a third weekly frequency on the Minsk route from April 27, 2014.

“It remains important for us to build on our solid foundations in 2014 by delivering a combination of attractive routes and good services for airlines as well as passengers,” said Kam Jandu, chief commercial officer, Budapest Airport. “We will be offering passengers a great selection of airlines and expanding destinations. So far as 2014 new route announcements are concerned, this is just the start, and we have some very significant new service developments still in the pipeline.”

According to schedule data from OAG Schedules Analyser, there were 15 new (or resumed) destinations served from Budapest in 2013 that were not served in 2012. These comprise: Antalya, Bacau, Baku, Djerba, Dubai, East Midlands, Enfidha, Hurghada, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Kefallinia, Minsk, Monastir, Moscow Vnukovo, Rotterdam and Sharm el Sheikh.

In the table below we look at the fastest growing routes at Budapest Airport during 2013 when compared to the previous year, based on seat capacity. There were 47 markets in growth during 2013, according to the analysis and we highlight the top 20 below.