Budapest Airport CEO shared when American flights will come back: sooner than you would think

Kam Jandu revealed when the long-expected Transatlantic direct flights would return to Hungary, and they will be back sooner than you would think.

Budapest Airport CEO interview

Mr Jandu gave a 44-minute-long exclusive interview to the International Airport Review (IAR) TV. They discussed his background in aviation, the airport’s recovery, their plans for route development, passenger experience initiatives, their sustainability targets, his challenges and opportunities, as well as his ambitions as the new airport CEO. “In the past four years, we have spent over a quarter of a billion euros improving and enhancing the facilities that we have”, Mr Jandu said.

According to Budflyer, a Hungarian air travel news outlet, Mr Jandu talked about the return of Transatlantic flights to Budapest Airport. We wrote multiple times that the US-Hungary and Canada-Hungary relationships are frozen because of political differences concerning mainly the ongoing Russian invasion and war in Ukraine. The Hungarian government believes the USA and their Western allies should not give weapons to Kyiv. Instead, they should make efforts to reach a ceasefire and sign a peace deal as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Biden administration thinks PM Orbán follows pro-Russia and pro-China policies by e.g. sitting down with both Putin and Xi Jinpin in Beijing, buying Russian energy or letting Chinese investments come to Hungary.

The US government issued several anti-Hungary measures in the last few months. For example, they unilaterally terminated a crucial agreement avoiding double taxation and limited visa exemptions for Hungarians. Furthermore, there are additional US sanctions on the horizon, impacting even travel rules. We wrote about them HERE.

USA-Hungary direct connection from next year

Kam Jandu remained confident that direct USA-Hungary flights would return by end-2024, and early 2025. He added there were ongoing talks concerning the issue with all big American airlines. He highlighted that the Budapest-New York flight is on the top because it has the highest passenger potential not served in the European Union.

In the final part of the interview, Jandu said experts of American Airlines know all the data concerning the Budapest Airport, and would like to come. However, they face expansion barriers due to their reduced fleet during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why they cannot return yet. “They will come just when their fleet is ready”, he added.

The fleet expansion of American Airlines is slower than previously expected. The schedule was the following concerning the new Boeing 787s: 11 in 2024, 10 in 2025, and four in 2026. However, that changed to 7 in 2024, four in 2025, four in 2026 and 15 more in the years after 2026.

We wrote HERE that the Hungarian government made a formal bid for the Budapest Airport. They would like to buy it for EUR 4 billion. Another terminal-connected hotel to be built at Budapest Airport, we wrote about that in THIS article.