Budapest Airport welcomed two new Chinese flights in the last week of June, with the launch of direct Guangzhou-Budapest and Xi’an-Budapest flights. Together with the Budapest-Shenzhen route, which will join the new additions in August, a total of seven direct passenger flights will be available between Budapest and China. With this, Ferenc Liszt International Airport offers the most extensive route network to the Far Eastern country in East-Central Europe, providing a significant economic advantage for Hungary. Passengers will also benefit from the new services, which will open the way to the rest of Asia, as well as to New Zealand and Australia.
In addition to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo, direct flights are now available from Budapest to Guangzhou and Xi’an, with Shenzhen joining in early August, bringing the number of flights between the Asian country and Hungary to twenty a week.
Thanks to China Southern, Guangzhou, one of China’s most important economic hubs, has become accessible with direct flights. Guangdong Province, where the city is located, generates 10% of the country’s GDP, so the connection is also of key importance for the Hungarian economy. The Pearl River Delta – Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and the Guangzhou area – is the world’s largest R&D hub for information technology and renewable energy. The metropolis of more than 15 million inhabitants is home to major investors in Hungary, such as BYD, Huawei, ZTE, Sunwoda and Eve Energy.
With a population of around 13 million, the 3,000-year-old Xi’an is the capital and largest city of Shaanxi Province. Located about 900 kilometers southwest of Beijing, it is an important industrial and financial hub and a major tourist attraction. It is home to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, the 8,000 clay soldiers guarding the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, and to the best-preserved city wall in China, 11 kilometers long, with a 13-storey pagoda built on top. The flight is operated by Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern.
The new destinations will serve as important hubs for passengers departing from Budapest for onward travel within China and Asia, while the flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou offer convenient connections to Australia and New Zealand.
“The two new flights launched this week further strengthen Sino-Hungarian aviation relations, which will benefit both passengers and the Hungarian economy,” said Francois Berisot, CEO, Budapest Airport. He added: “Budapest Airport has developed an extensive route network of major cities in China in recent years that is outstanding even at regional level. The airport has become a regional hub for leisure and business passengers traveling between the two countries, as well as for cargo shipments from the East within Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest Airport is currently negotiating the launch of more new flights to China, further strengthening the economic ties and booming tourism between the two countries.”
With the addition of the Shenzhen-Budapest route operated by Hainan Airlines, which will start in early August, this will mean 20 direct flights per week between Hungary and China. This is a significant increase compared to the magnitude seen before the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, the busiest year ever for the airport, 220,000 passengers flew from China to Hungary. The current network expansion will allow this number to rise to more than 400,000. In addition to belly cargo, goods transported on the lower decks of aircraft, the number of dedicated cargo flights on this route has also increased significantly in recent years, making Budapest Airport a strategic hub for cargo from China.
Budapest Airport has cooperated actively with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Hungarian Tourism Agency in connection with the launch of the flights.
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