New Hungarian airline starts service in February from Budapest
A new Hungarian airline will start service in February, connecting Budapest with Hong Kong, after acquiring all the required permits and licenses. The new airline has ambitious plans: they would like to expand quickly and cover not only Asian and European markets but also set foot in America. Here is what the operation director told AIRportal.hu about their plans and achievements.
New Hungarian airline in Budapest
Gábor Talabos, the operation director of the brand-new Hungary Airlines, revealed their plans to AIRportal.hu, a Hungarian travel-focused media outlet. The cargo carrier concluded the authorisation process by a demonstrative flight on 23 December. As a result, the Hungarian Civil Aviation Authority issued their air operator certificate (AOC), which is required to participate in air cargo.
The new airline received the „HUA” ICAO code and the „HA*” IATA code. The training flights in January used the “Budapest” call sign, but that is expected to change to “Hungary”.
Talabos told AIRportal that the first flight would take off in the first half of February to carry cargo between Hong Kong and Budapest. In the beginning, three flights will commute weekly between the Chinese metropolis and the Hungarian capital. Later, that number will grow to five per week. They will use a state-owned plane operated by the airline.
After acquiring all the necessary permits, the airline will expand its operation to other Chinese e-commerce hubs from where the plane already brought goods last year when it was operated by Hungary’s low-cost airline, Wizz Air. Based on the plans, the fleet will expand with two Boeing 777-300ERSF aircraft by next year. Furthermore, the airline is searching for Airbus A330F planes to increase its capacities.
Chinese e-commerce and American markets
They aim to enable Hungarian and regional companies to book their capacities in advance. They would like to provide trustworthy service between Asia and Eastern Europe. In the long run, they aim to enter all segments of the air cargo transportation industry and would like to operate an air cargo service fleet centred in Budapest. They would also like to enter the American market. Talabos highlighted that one of their chief aims is to strengthen Hungarian aviation and the local markets.
They said their performance contributed to the 50% air cargo volume increase of Budapest Airport, with which the Hungarian airgate preceded even Vienna last year. Furthermore, Budapest has become a regional hub for e-trade goods from Asia: we covered that in THIS article. Talabos praised the work of the ground handling companies, Budapest Airport, the Hungarian authorities, the government and the National Tax and Customs Administration in achieving all that.
He added that they would like to fill all available positions with Hungarian workforce, so they plan to start recruitment campaigns in the future.
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 last 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.
The signing of the Hungary Airlines – Boeing cooperation agreement last year:
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