Direct flights may commute between Budapest and two Asian countries soon
Good news came about the opening of two brand new flight routes from Budapest to exotic Asian countries having no direct connection with Hungary yet. It seems that the first COVID-free summer holds a lot of surprises for Hungarians and expats living in Hungary.
According to Budflyer, a Facebook page specialising in travel news, the first possible destination is Mongolia. The country is planning to establish direct air connections with six countries, including Hungary. Based on their post, the governments of Hungary and Mongolia are working on bilateral flight service agreements. The good news is that the government in Ulaanbaatar accepted the document’s first draft in its last week session.
The agreement contains 26 paragraphs and has rules for flight security, flight safety, authorities responsible for supervising the air connection, operation permissions, tariffs, customs and other fees.
Besides, another Asian country would also like to establish a direct air connection with Hungary and Budapest. There were rumours and talks about a flight between Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and the Hungarian capital. However, now Bufdlyer said the two parties were waiting only for signing the relevant agreement. The progress was announced by the head of the Civil Aviation Department, Alexander Nastayev.
He added that the two countries aimed to establish a direct air connection. However, the plan was postponed due to the geopolitical situation. He probably referred to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine following the Russian attack against Hungary’s Northeastern neighbour last February. The war makes the establishment of an air connection difficult between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan, provided one does not want to fly above the Black Sea.
Therefore, Nastayev talked about a route via Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Now Kyrgyzstan waits for permission from their Georgian counterparts concerning the operation of the flights.
Currently, you have three air options to travel from Budapest to Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar and vice versa. You can change in Istanbul, Vienna and Zagreb. Interstingly, that means Croatia and Austria in the region have a direct air connection with Mongolia, rome2rio.com wrote. Many Hungarians believe that the people of Mongolia and Hungary are related nations since the ancestors of the Hungarians came from Central Asia.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, announced on 1 February that the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Zhaparov, would come to Budapest the following week. Thus, he may sign the agreement with PM Orbán about establishing a direct air connection. Hungary will be the first EU member state President Zhaparov visits.
Source: Budflyer, rome2rio.com, Facebook/Szijjártó