2011. october newsletter

Budapest Airport reports record-breaking September *** Budapest Airport wins top award at World Routes Conference in Berlin *** Budapest Airport welcomes inaugural SkyWork Airlines flight from Bern *** Another giant aircraft makes its debut in Budapest *** Focus on business travelers *** Another Award for bud:skycourt *** Lufthansa’s Airbus A-380 conquers Budapest *** Ferenc Liszt *** Airport Forum at the bud:skycourt *** BUD boosts Budapest Business Region at Expo Real *** Take a piece of Hungary with you

Budapest Airport reports record-breaking September

Budapest Airport handled over 894,000 passengers last month seeing its busiest month of September ever. The airport saw an increase of 6.1% in passenger traffic over September 2010 and an increase of 5.3% compared with the last record year in 2007. These latest results reinforce outstanding third quarter results that were well ahead of both the EU average and Budapest’s peer airports within the central and eastern European region. Budapest Airport expects to handle over 8.7 million passengers by the end of 2011. Current year-to-date figures stand at 6.8 million – 533 000 more than at the same time a year ago.

Kam Jandu, Director of Aviation, commented: “These highly satisfying results reflect our efforts to bring more airlines and passengers to Budapest. Our efforts were rewarded recently as the airlines voted Budapest Airport the European winner of the 2011 World Routes Airport Marketing Awards. Together with the Hungarian National Tourism Organisation, we are working to ensure that more foreign travellers choose Budapest and Hungary as their destination of choice, and that more transfer passengers enjoy the efficiency and the comfort afforded by the new bud:skycourt terminal building.”



Strong performances from major flag carriers such as Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways and Air France contributed to the growth with a 16% increase in traffic in this market segment over 2010. The Hungarian carrier, Malév also performed well accounting for the majority of the 12% growth in transfer traffic in September. Long haul traffic increased by almost 45% compared with September 2010, attributable primarily to American Airlines daily flight to New York and Qatar Airways flights to Doha with its increased frequency to daily direct services from September 1st, 2011.

The continued growth in passenger numbers demonstrates the attraction of the airport’s route network to both business and leisure travellers alike. London remains the most popular destination followed by Paris and Frankfurt.

Budapest Airport wins top award at World Routes Conference in Berlin

Budapest Airport has been formally announced as the European winner of this year’s World Routes Airport Marketing Awards at the 2011 Gala Networking Evening in Berlin, Germany. More than 3000 aviation professionals gathered for the 14th annual event.

The airport was particularly commended for its “comprehensive submission and constant innovation in marketing” by the judges. The entry detailed the opening of a new terminal building bud:skycourt, route development incentives, in-depth market analysis, airport research, product development, partnering with Hungary’s Tourist Board, joint promotions such as digital and social media campaigns and seven new routes in the last 12 months, including Qatar Airways to Doha, American Airlines to New York and SkyWork Airlines to Bern.



This latest accolade comes hard on the heels of Budapest Airport’s recent success as winner of the European Routes Marketing Award and supports the continued cooperation that the airport has to promote Hungary as a destination with the Hungarian National Tourism Office.

Widely recognised as one of the industry’s most important honours, the awards are unique and highly sought after because they work on the core principal that the people who are best placed to judge an airport’s marketing activities are its primary users: the airlines themselves.

Director of Aviation at Budapest Airport, Kam Jandu said: “I am delighted to pick up the top award for best airport marketing in the European category ahead of such strong competition. This prestigious award represents the combined efforts of the dedicated Commercial team at Budapest Airport, who with constant focus and attention to detail have helped us significantly expand and develop our route network and ensure that the airlines receive only the best service from us. We have succeeded in putting Budapest Airport Airline Development and Marketing at the forefront of airline route development and feel extremely proud to be recognised by the global airline industry.”

Budapest Airport, CEO Jost Lammers added: “We have such a great team of dedicated individuals working for us. This is fantastic for the airport and for all our stakeholders. It is a real honour for us to win knowing that the award has been voted for by our customers, the airlines.”

The Routes Airport Marketing Awards have become synonymous with recognising and rewarding the highest standards of marketing activities undertaken by airports. After being nominated by airlines, the airports are then asked to submit details about their route development activity and results. A panel of judges considers these submissions and scores them based upon how it matches the entry brief, route development content, evidence of relationship with airlines, innovative ways of marketing to airlines, results, effectiveness and creative application.

The World Routes Awards comprised four regional categories: Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Other global award winners were Abu Dhabi Airports Company for the Asian region, Los Angeles World Airports for the Americas and Accra Interntational Airport, Ghana for the African region.

Budapest Airport welcomes inaugural SkyWork Airlines flight from Bern

On 31th October Budapest Airport welcomed the first SkyWork Airlines flight linking the Hungarian capital city with the Swiss capital city of Bern. SkyWork’s 31-seat, Dornier 328 aircraft, flight number SX602 touched down on schedule at 13:25. The Swiss regional airline has launched two flights weekly between the two cities representing Budapest Airport’s first flights to the Swiss capital. The new service will operate on both Saturdays and Mondays making the route an attractive option for weekend getaways.

The flight schedules are Mondays and Saturdays:
Depart Bern 11:30 - Arrive Budapest 13:25
Depart Budapest 13:55 - Arrive Bern 15:50




Jost Lammer, CEO at Budapest Airport said: “We are delighted to welcome SkyWork Airlines to Budapest. This is a dynamic young regional carrier which is building up a strong network of routes out of Bern, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. The route will appeal heavily to the leisure market opening up the beautiful Bernese Oberland and the stunning Jungfrau. Travellers headed for the Bernese Oberland no longer have to travel to Bern via Basel, Zurich or Geneva, saving up to two hours’ journey time. They can take a train to the resorts of Interlaken, Grindelwald and Wengen – within 1½ hours of Bern and reach Jungfraujoch ‘the top of Europe’ in just over three hours.”

SkyWork Airlines CEO, Tomislav Lang commented: “We are extremely pleased to have begun this exciting new route directly linking Budapest and the Swiss capital of Bern. The route offers travellers from Bern the chance to visit Hungary’s capital and largest city, one of the most popular holiday destinations and beautiful cities in Europe. We have already experienced strong forward bookings and are confident that our new flights to Budapest will continue to be well received.”

SkyWork Airlines offers complimentary catering on all flights, i-Pads for entertainment, free hold baggage allowance of 20kg per passenger, plus cabin baggage of 8kgs. Lead in fares start at just 59 Euros on the all economy seat aircraft. Tickets are bookable online via the SkyWork Airlines website – www.flyskywork.com.

Another giant aircraft makes its debut in Budapest

Boeing’s latest and largest aircraft landed at Budapest Airport in the early hours of 17th October, as part of the first commercial flight made by the Boeing 747-8F. The fourth generation aircraft of the Luxembourg-based cargo airline Cargolux performed its first flight on the Luxembourg – Hong Kong – Baku – Budapest – Luxembourg route.

Cargolux’s giant Boeing 747-8F type aircraft landed on runway 31 R at Budapest Airport at 5:59 a.m. in minus 4 degrees and complete darkness. The Luxembourg-based cargo airline received the brand new aircraft in the United States just last week. The Boeing 747 type, commonly known as the Jumbo, has of course been serving civil aviation for a long time; its maiden flight was in 1969. Since then, this is the fourth generation, and the one which has seen the most extensive remodeling. The length of the 747-8F has been increased, both overall and in terms of the wingspan, as part of a new wing design. As a result, and thanks to the brand new General Electric GEnx-2B67 type engines, the aircraft’s range and maximum structural payload have increased, whilst its noise emissions and fuel consumption have decreased significantly.

This aircraft from Cargolux is the first of the Boeing 747-8 series to commence commercial operation. The Luxembourg-based cargo airline is one of the largest European all freighter airline operator and has scheduled services in to Budapest Airport 5 times a week. It downloads cargo coming from Hong Kong and uploads cargo on its way to Luxembourg to feed into their worldwide net. The B747-8F aircraft was the first commercial flight ever to have been performed with this new type from Boeing and is scheduled 4 out of the weekly frequencies via BUD. Due to the enormous size of the aircraft, Budapest Airport had to alter its arrangements for the handling of large aircraft, achieved the permission for the B747-8F, and had to work out new procedures together with the authorities and ground handlers, in order to be able to accommodate it.



“We are proud of the fact that Budapest Airport became the very first European airport to welcome and serve the Boeing 747-8F on its first ever commercial flight,” said Jost Lammers, the CEO of Budapest Airport after the landing of the Cargolux aircraft. “We had to reconfigure the apron to make sure we can handle the giant aircraft seamlessly, and everything went smoothly this morning. Next year we will be able to serve this type at the first terminal of our new Cargo City, near runway 2. It is important to emphasize that the new model is significantly more efficient than older cargo aircraft in terms of lower noise and carbon dioxide emissions.”

The main data of the the B747-8F aircraft are as follows:

Length: 76.25 m
Wingspan: 68.45 m
Height: 19.35 m
Fuselage width: 6.1 m
Maximum takeoff weight: 442 tons
Maximum structural payload: 134 tons
Maximum range: 8,130km (with maximum structural payload)
Maximum speed: 988 km/h (Mach 0.92)

Focus on business travelers

Budapest Airport participated in this year’s Business Travel Show, held at the Hungexpo Budapest Fair Center, with its own exhibition area and successful presentations. Kam Jandu, director aviation for Budapest Airport, outlined the new services of the bud:skycourt for travel agencies and conference tourism organizers.

Budapest Airport registered the busiest summer season ever in July, August and September, with passenger traffic exceeding last year’s figure by 6.1%. During the fall, the proportion of passengers traveling on business, work, or to attend conferences could reach 50%, so it was especially important for Budapest Airport to participate at the Business Travel Show.



As the next step in airport developments, this week Budapest Airport will open a brand new conference room able to accommodate up to 100 people on the ground floor of the bud:skycourt. New business lounges, premium services and a wide range of commercial products – this is how we can best summarize the new services offered by Budapest Airport for business travelers since the opening of the bud:skycourt.

These innovations were also showcased at the Business Travel Show, where Budapest Airport participated together with 102 travel agencies and tour operators.

Another Award for bud:skycourt

BUD Future Director Mr. Stephan Schattney on behalf of Budapest Airport took over the prestigious European Award for Steel Structures, awarded by the international panel of experts at a conference held in Potsdam, Germany. On 12th October the prize was handed over in the Budapest office of KÉSZ Zrt, the builder of bud:skycourt.

The prestigious prize is awarded biannually by the European Convention for Constructional Steelwork, the association of steel construction companies of the continent, to buildings with outstanding quality of design and execution within Europe. The award this time went to the terminal building of Budapest Airport called bud:skycourt which had been opened for the traveling public on 27 March this year. The three-level glass-and-steel facility is the result of long years of teamwork from design to final handover. Therefore, the award was jointly received by Budapest Airport, the designers of KÖZTI, and the steel structure design and manufacturing team of KÉSZ.

Winning this award, the new terminal of Budapest Airport has become a member in the elite club of world-class facilities such as the Formula-1 racetrack in Abu Dhabi and the Aviva soccer stadium of Dublin. The valuable award was handed over in the Budapest office of KÉSZ Zrt by Péter Markó, the chairman of the Hungarian Association of Constructional Steelwork, to Budapest Airport development director Stephan Schattney, KÉSZ CEO László Szalados, the structural designers of KÉSZ, and the design team of KÖZTI.

Mr. Stephan Schattney, BUD Future Director of Budapest Airport has said upon receiving the prize: “This is a great honor for Budapest Airport and the recognition of the teamwork we have done for many years together with designers of KÖZTI and the construction people of KÉSZ. I am proud to have worked in such an excellent team from the design phase right to the opening of bud:skycourt. Above all we also receive a daily recognition of our joint effort since passengers use and love bud:skycourt, an elegant and inspiring steel structure, a remarkable piece of engineering.”

Lufthansa’s Airbus A-380 conquers Budapest

Lufthansa’s Airbus A-380 airliner generated publicity which celebrities and film stars would envy when it left Budapest on Sunday (2nd October) after a stunning low flyover at an altitude of just 5 meters. The “flying whale” spent just over two hours in Budapest, but that was enough to make it front-page news in the Hungarian media.

No less than eighty different television reports, blog entries, live broadcasts, articles and photo galleries were published about the first ever visit of Lufthansa’s Airbus A 380 in Budapest, with the number of pictures and videos uploaded to Facebook and other websites impossible to count. There was enormous interest in the event on Budapest Airport’s homepage, on Facebook, and pictures quickly appeared on Lufthansa’s social media sites as well. YouTube registered no less than 30 000 downloads in connection with the landing of Lufthansa’s giant aircraft at Budapest Airport. The most popular Hungarian aviation photography and aircraft spotter website, www.airportal.hu received 20 000 visitors and more than 110 000 downloads in the space of two days.

“We had the highest number of visitors to the site on Sunday morning, most of them interested in the spotter guide (www.airportal.hu/a380spotter) we compiled for the occasion, which contained a lot of useful tips on the best locations to see the Airbus A380. Since it is in the interest of aviation photographers to cooperate with Budapest Airport and to safeguard aviation safety, in the spotter guide we specifically called visitors’ attention to the protection of the environment at the airport, advising them to refrain from dropping garbage and climbing on fences,” said Ádám Samu, the editor-in-chief of the website.



Due to the huge interest, Budapest Airport temporarily opened the observation terrace on the roof of Terminal 2A, from where guests had a panoramic view of the entire event. Since the roof of the terminal is currently a construction area, only 411 visitors could be accommodated there safely. Demand for registration through Facebook and the internet was so intense that the spaces were reserved in 8 minutes. Several thousand people observed the landing and the takeoff of the giant aircraft from outside the airport fence, from the green areas around Vecsés and on top of the noise protection mound, the so-called spotter hill in Budapest district XVIII. According to estimates, at least 10 000 spectators came to see the aircraft in the beautiful late summer weather.

Budapest Airport and Lufthansa would hereby like to thank all the authorities, from air traffic control through the airport fire service to the Pest County and the airport Police, who were involved in the successful visit of the Lufthansa Airbus A 380 in Budapest, and thereby contributed to an unforgettable event for aviation enthusiasts and all participants.

Ferenc Liszt

Budapest Airport surprised travelers with a series of piano concerts at the bud:skycourt at Ferenc Liszt International Airport. Organized by the Palace of Arts, young pianists performed Liszt’s works on the mezzanine level of the bud:skycourt to honor the 200th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Hungarian composer and pianist.

Young pianists studying at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music took turns every two hours at the grand piano set up on the mezzanine level of the bud:skycourt. Each young artist gave a half-hour concert, showcasing what the works of Ferenc Liszt mean to them, and how more than a century old music pieces can be performed in a truly 21st century setting such as the airport. Budapest Airport implemented the Liszt concert series in cooperation with the Palace of Arts. The event also served as practice for an artistic and tourism project; The Palace of Arts, together with travel agencies, compiled a thematic Liszt-package, and going forward Budapest Airport will become the last program point of the trips by organizing concerts at the airport.



The young pianists took turns every two hours from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday 22 October behind the Steinway grand piano set up on the mezzanine level of the bud:skycourt, with plaques and memorabilia relating to Ferenc Liszt placed around the location. The performers were the following, in order of appearance: László Váradi (16 years old), István Vadászi (24) and Ivett Gyöngyösi (18).

Airport Forum at the bud:skycourt

The Airport Forum held its meeting in Budapest this year. Every year managers from European airports meet and have discussions about the latest developments and challenges facing airports at this prestigious professional meeting initiated by the internationally renowned aviation expert Herbert Hess. The Budapest meeting was a great success, nearly 60 guests attended the event over two days.

Traditionally, the host country and airport play a key role in the Airport Forum. CEO Jost Lammers, director aviation Kam Jandu and director BUD Future Stephan Schattney all spoke at the conference. Lóránt Limburger, the acting CEO of Malév and dr. Éva Kállai, deputy head of the Aviation and Water Transport Division at the Ministry of National Development also delivered speeches. Managers from several major western European airports also participated in the forum, while technology and innovative manufacturers exhibited their latest developments. Budapest Airport, or its aviation marketing team to be more precise, organized a very successful event. The venue was also excellent, as this event was the first “live test” of the newly opened conference center at the bud:skycourt. The conference center, able to accommodate up to 100 participants, was handed over by property management just before the event.

BUD boosts Budapest Business Region at Expo Real

Budapest Airport participated at the traditional Expo Real real estate exhibition in Munich as a partner of the Budapest Business Region stand. Budapest Airport is one of the frontrunners of the development of the Southern Budapest area with plans of investing around 300 million Euros in the next decade and an half in the airport area both in offices and commercial area.

Budapest Airport has become a key driver of economic development and a major player in job creation in the Southern Budapest – Pest County area. That is one of the main messages brought to the Bavarian capital for Expo Real, the continent’s largest real estate development exhibition. Since 2007 Budapest Airport has invested well over 220 million Euros into airport development, the centerpiece being bud:skycourt, the newly opened Terminal 2 building of 28.000 square meters.

Budapest Airport has also become a catalyst of development in and around the airport. With the inauguration of the Hungarian Post International Exchange Center near terminal 2 the plans are underway to launch a whole Cargo City, with excellent aviation and road links to over 20 European countries within a 1000 km radius. The first phase of Cargo City will be constructed from early 2012 with 11.000 square meters of warehouse and 4.500 square meters of office space.

Budapest Airport plans to build a 3-4 star, 250 rooms on-site airport hotel with real estate developers and an international hotel chain operating it opposite to Terminal 2 B, with lots of conference facilities and top-floor restaurants overlooking the life of the airport. A whole new Office Park is also in the pipeline around Terminal 2 in the coming years.

René Droese, Property Director of Budapest Airport has said: “We have just finished the process of marking several new areas around the airport and worked out the long-term property clusters to be developed in conjunction with the airport development plans. This is what we bring to Expo Real. We plan a Commercial Park on the Southern edge of the airport, bringing in airline offices one after the other. Wizz Air has opened its airport HQ just a couple of months ago, next summer Malév Hungarian Airlines will move in with its 600 head office employees into 3 adjacent and refurbished office buildings.”

According to Budapest Airport estimates altogether 300 million Euros will be invested in the airport area in the next fifteen years, creating up to 10.000 new jobs in the Southern Budapest region. According to a recent economic study every additional 1 million passenger creates around 1340 new jobs at the airport, and every new airport-job creates three more jobs in town, in tourism, hotels, services and transportation. Budapest Airport is forecasting 8,7 million passengers for this year, with 86.000 tons of cargo handled.

Take a piece of Hungary with you

Explore the Hungarian offers at the bud:skycourt, where the colorful product range brings back memories of Hungary.

The “Hungarian offers” island located in the transit area of the bud:skycourt presents the Hungarian products and menus of the shops and restaurants, for passengers can to pick and choose according to their liking. On World Tourism Day, 27 September, a music concert was organized at the “Hungarian offers” island by Budapest Airport, while CEO Jost Lammers and director aviation Kam Jandu distributed chocolate to passengers.



Look for the Hungarian offers when you fly and take a piece of Hungary with you.