BREAKING: New Hungarian airline founded with Chinese help
A new Hungarian airline was founded, and a cooperation agreement was signed on 27 November with Boeing at Beijing’s Chain Expo. Launching a new, Hungary-related airline is such important news that it is strange Minister Péter Szijjártó, who is regularly present on such occasions, was not there and did not even report about the event on his Facebook page.
Chinese founder, Boeing provides 100 new planes
According to Budflyer, a Hungarian air travel news Facebook page, Új Szemle, a Hungarian-Chinese news outlet, wrote about the birth of the new airline and their agreement with Boeing in Beijing. Hungary Airlines CEO is Duan Bo, who signed the documents with Boeing Commercial Sales & Marketing in Greater China VP Gao Sixiang. The agreement is about acquiring 100 new B737 MAX aircraft, but Budflyer and its Chinese source did not mention a deadline for the delivery.
Hungary Airlines plans to open new routes between China and Central Eastern Europe. Furthermore, they would like to use Budapest as their European hub.
Photo: FB/Budflyer
The head of the Relations Department of HEPA (Hungarian Export Promotion Agency) said that Hungary Airlines aims to become a global trademark and provide sustainable and effective air travel services. Moreover, they would like to strengthen the relationship between China and Hungary.
Based on the article published by Új Szemle, Hungary Airlines plans to launch its first flight to Hong Kong. However, it is not specified whether that will be a cargo or a passenger flight.
Új Szemle is a Hungarian-Chinese news outlet founded by Geng Jie and her husband in 2000 in Budapest. It has a print and online version and acquired thousands of followers on WeChat in China. The news outlet publishes news about Hungary for the Chinese diaspora living here. The articles are written by Chinese people living in Budapest.
New Hungarian airline without Hungarian governmental help?
Interestingly, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó did not post about the launch of a new Hungarian airline despite being very active in communicating such news.
The last time the Hungarian foreign minister wrote about China-related news was on 26 November, when he was happy about Zhejiang’s new plant in Jászfényszaru, which will start mass production next spring, serving a Tesla plant in Germany. Concerning the production of cogwheels and axles, the Chinese company will be the market leader in Europe thanks to its plant in Hungary.
Péter Szijjártó with Chinese businessmen. Photo: FB/Szijjártó
The airline changed its name in May
HEPA CEO Gábor Jenei said Hungary’s strategic position, highly-developed infrastructure, innovation and commitment to cooperation make Hungary a natural bridge between the East and the West.
According to portfolio.hu, direct flights are commuting between Budapest and Beijing, Shanghai, Ningbo, and Chongqing. Based on their article, Hungary Airlines was active before in cargo transport. In April, they signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the China Zhejiang Airport Group and the Shenzhen Airport Group about the “Air Silk Road” Hungarian-Chinese cargo hub project.
According to Opten’s data, Hungary Airlines was created in May 2021, and its principal activity was air cargo transport. Before, passenger transport was not included in the company’s activity portfolio. The company has two CEOs, Wu Jiang and Duan Bo.
Interestingly, the company changed its name this May from Universal Translink Airline Hungary Ltd. to Hungary Airlines Ltd. Its owner is the UTL (Beijing) Digital Logistics Co. Ltd., a company registered in Beijing.
Yesterday, we reported that Hungary and China are set to negotiate modifications to their aviation cooperation agreement, aiming to expand the number of flights between the two nations beyond the current 21 per week. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, during his visit to Beijing, highlighted the growing tourist exchange and significant Chinese investments in Hungary as drivers for enhancing air connectivity. The proposed changes could include new routes and increased flight frequencies, strengthening both passenger and cargo traffic.
Read also:
- New Hungarian airline set to launch by late 2024 – read more HERE
- Korean budget airline eyes Budapest in major European expansion
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1 Comment
Let there be no misunderstanding, this is a Chinese airline that’ll use a Hungarian operating licence to fly within the EU, which isn’t a privilege accorded to Chinese carriers. There’s nothing Hungarian about it, beyond the name. If Hungary still had a national carrier it could provide feeder flights for Chinese carriers operating from Budapest, as well as distributing cargo arriving from China. In the absence of such an airline, the Chinese are founding their own.
This isn’t wholly bad news as the business model will wash its face with Chinese transit passengers and cargo, nor will it be under pressure to maximise profits as its primary role will be to expand Chinese influence in Europe while facilitating Chinese travellers and manufacturing output to get to elsewhere in the EU with a seamless transfer at Budapest airport, all while keeping revenues within Chinese hands. As such, it could be a decidedly comfortable airline to fly on compared to the low cost and European legacy airlines whose wafer thin margins dictate that they offer cramped seating and nothing more than a packet of peanuts if you’re lucky.
It’s certainly an interesting development and will bring back the transfer passengers that Budapest airport lost when Malev folded, depriving the airport of a key source of revenue.