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Budapest Airport officially opens SkyCourt – a brand new, centrally located building, linking the existing terminals 2a and 2b – at the end of March 2011. SkyCourt doubles the commercial area of the terminals and provides a wide range of retail outlets, international brands and greatly improved dining options for travellers. The contemporary glass structure offers an impressive view of the Airport’s apron and provides passengers with a truly unique travel experience. “SkyCourt will constitute a leap in the quality of passenger handling, not only offering unique architectural solutions but also an excellent travel experience, whilst still on the ground,” continued Lammers.rn
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2010 saw the airport handle nearly 8.2 million passengers and with rapid route development in progress this is set to increase for 2011. Recent route additions include Qatar Airways now operating the airport’s first direct flights to the Middle East and American Airlines commencing direct flights to New York from April. From May AirBaltic will operate flights to Riga in Latvia and Panorama Travel & Tours Ltd will start direct flights to Hamilton in Canada. In addition, KLM, which commenced its operations from Budapest last winter, will become a summer carrier for the first time in many years, with Hungarian travellers able to connect through the airline’s Amsterdam hub, utilising a route that is already surpassing initial projections.rn
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There are also several further routes planned by some of the Airport’s existing airline partners: Wizzair, the fastest growing low cost airline at Budapest, will increase its flights to Turkey from June, with three weekly flights to Istanbul and two weekly flights to Antalya and Jet2.com will launch an inaugural service between Edinburgh and Budapest from April. Both airlines will make the most of utilising Budapest Airport’s dedicated low cost carrier terminal, Terminal 1, which provides handling and services tailored for the low cost sector and passengers.rn
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From June the Airport’s largest network carrier, Malev, will start flights to two Greek destinations – Heraklion (Crete) and Rhodes, with twice weekly services. Budapest Airport is also welcoming two new charter carriers during the summer Holidays Czech Airlines and Sunexpress from Turkey, which will provide much needed supply to the increasing number of Turkish packages that are being sold. In addition, numerous frequency increases are anticipated to cities including Moscow, Manchester, Warsaw, Dusseldorf and Barcelona. rn
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New BUD Cargo City scheduled to open in 2012rn
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2010 was a strong year for cargo at Budapest Airport. In the year ending December 31, the airport met its targets for cargo flown, carrying 82,638 tonnes with a total of 5,808 freighter movements, representing a 32% increase over cargo tonnage flown and a 23% increase in freighter ATMs during 2009. rn
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Cargo will continue to play a big role in the airport’s expansion plans this year, with its new Cargo City being built adjacent to passenger Terminal 2. Work is ongoing in readiness for completion in 2012. BUD Cargo City will be a new home for handling agents, freight forwarders and integrators with all facilities being tailored to the needs of tenant companies.
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