Hungary loses several routes as popular airline leaves – UPDATED
Universal Air, a Maltese Airline, announced several flights from two Hungarian airports earlier this year. However, they have made a surprising decision concerning all their routes to and from Hungary.
Universal Air’s brave expansion
We wrote an article about the expansion of the Maltese Universal Air in Hungary HERE. To sum that up, Universal Air started to serve passengers on the Munich-Pécs-Malta triangle in 2024, before the 9 June municipal elections. The leadership of Pécs was happy for that, and the utilisation of the flights varied between 30 and 100%. Later that summer, the airline opened a new route between Pécs and Corfu, which was also popular.
As a result, everybody planned a brighter future. The Maltese airline talked about relaunching summer flights from this May, although they did not provide a proper explanation for why they terminated them between January and May. Moreover, they announced new flights from Debrecen International Airport to Leipzig, Germany, and Malta.
Consequently, both Hungarian airports planned expansions and developments since they hoped that the Maltese airline could bring new airlines and create a regional air traffic hub from them, even though the Osijek (Eszék) airport may become a significant competitor for the Pécs-Pogány airgate.
Universal Air’s shocking announcement
According to AIRportal.hu, all those hopes were in vain. Based on a post shared on Universal Air’s Facebook page yesterday, its current scheduled flights will operate until 30 May 2025, since the airline will switch exclusively to charter services, leasing its planes along with crew. Therefore, Universal Air will not terminate its operation, but will continue it differently.
Based on a statement they shared on their website, the airline made that “difficult” decision “after careful consideration”. “We regret to inform you that all scheduled passenger bookings have been cancelled from 31 May 2025 onwards. The last scheduled flights will take place on 30 May. This decision has not been taken lightly. We know how disappointing and disruptive changes to travel plans can be, and this is not the experience we ever aim to provide. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused”, they said.
That means all customers with bookings for flights after the end of May will be contacted directly, and a full refund of their ticket price will be offered. They said refunds typically would reach your account within 3 to 5 working days. You will get the cancellation notification via email.
According to their announcement, Universal Air will “continue to offer charter flights and ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) services.”
Unclear whether they will maintain service in Debrecen
According to AIRportal.hu, there were signs that the airline may face some problems concerning their service. Pécs Airport informed the media outlet this Wednesday that Universal Air postponed the previously planned 13 May restart of the Malta-Pécs-Munich route to the end of May. Meanwhile, the Pécs-Corfu route was to start from 4 June.
Interestingly, Universal Air has a contract with Debrecen’s BMW plant concerning regular flights between Saxony’s capital, Leipzig and the second biggest Hungarian city, which hosts the USD 7.5 billion investment. The first planes took off on 30 March and the Maltese airline serves the Malta–Debrecen–Leipzig–Debrecen–Malta route twice a week.
UPDATE: Debrecen routes also cancelled
According to turizmus.com, Universal Air’s decision means the cancellation of the airline’s Debrecen routes. Bendegúz Tar, the airport’s PR and marketing representative, could not tell whether they would relaunch the routes with other airlines.
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