‘FOD Day’ precedes Earth Day *** TAP Portugal launches its eighth frequency from Budapest Airport *** Fly to Lyon with Air France! *** Budapest Airport is the best start up ever for Ryanair *** Budapest Airport welcomes veteran aircraft *** Extraordinary film shoot at the airport *** Take a piece of Hungary with you *** Extra pampering massage after shopping *** Children’s play area at the SkyCourt *** Improved rent-a-car facilities at Budapest Airport
‘FOD Day’ precedes Earth Day
This year Budapest Airport’s Environment, Health and Safety Directorate once again organized voluntary FOD (foreign object debris) collection to coincide with Earth Day. International Mother Earth Day, held globally on 22 April, is becoming an ever greater event in the last 40 years, raising awareness about environmental protection. Last year FOD collection was organized precisely on that day. This year it preceded Earth Day by 24 hours; thus, staff wishing to join the effort to clean up the airside area of the airport could do so on Saturday, which was anyhow a workday in Hungary. A large team assembled once again, with about two dozen employees donning gloves and high visibility vests and heading to the apron around Terminal 2 with plastic bags in hand.
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Once again there were some amazing “treasures” found lying around on the concrete and in the grass around the apron. The 8 of Bells from a pack of Hungarian playing cards must have been sorely missed, and it is inexplicable what a colorful piercing was doing discarded on the apron at an airport. But the most bizarre find was definitely an abandoned and ragged balloon inscribed “Free Palestine”.
Although FOD collection is a voluntary initiative for no extra remuneration, not everyone left with an empty pocket. Two lucky participants uncovered 100 Rubles and 5000 Forints amongst the FOD, so hearty congratulations to them!
Anybody spends his/her free time spotting arriving or departing planes and the nice spring weather inspires enhancing the environment, we ask those to join to the movement called ’TeSzedd – Joined initiative for clean Hungary’ and find further details in one of the Airport’s neighbouring municipalities.
TAP Portugal launches its eighth frequency from Budapest Airport
At a press conference held on 20th April 2012, TAP Portugal commemorated the start of its eighth frequency from Budapest Airport, fittingly coinciding with the airline’s eighth year of operations from the Hungarian capital. TAP Portugal, a Star Alliance member since 2006, operates to 46 destinations in 26 countries. It commenced services between Budapest and Lisbon in 2004 and has seen a steady increase in demand on the route ever since, with passenger numbers increasing by almost 20% in 2011. The eighth frequency on the route effectively increases seat capacity by 21%.| Flight No. TP0714 | Departure | Lisbon | 9:15 | Arrival | Budapest | Mo-Th-Fr-Sa |
| Flight No. TP0713 | Departure | Budapest | 14:35 | Arrival | Lisbon | Mo-Th-Fr-Sa |
| Flight No. TP0702 | Departure | Lisbon | 12:30 | Arrival | Budapest | Tu |
| Flight No. TP0702 | Departure | Budapest | 19:25 | Arrival | Lisbon | Tu |
| Flight No. TP0716 | Departure | Lisbon | 14:05 | Arrival | Budapest | We-Su |
| Flight No. TP0717 | Departure | Budapest | 19:25 | Arrival | Lisbon | We-Su |
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“We are delighted to celebrate TAP Portugal’s successful Budapest-Lisbon route with an additional rotation providing even greater convenience for our passengers,” said Kam Jandu, Director of Aviation for Budapest Airport. “TAP Portugal passengers originating from Hungary also have the option of onward connections to Latin America, North America, Asia and Africa via Lisbon.”
Voted ‘World’s Best Airline to South America’ by World Travel Awards for three consecutive years – 2009, 2010 and 2011 – TAP Portugal is the leading airline between Europe and Brazil.
Fly to Lyon with Air France!
Budapest Airport welcomes a new flight and a brand new route to add to its network of direct destinations. From the beginning of the summer, passengers will be able to travel to Lyon, the second largest city in France, and the surrounding region. The flight will be operated by a carrier that is new to Budapest Airport, Brit Air – a subsidiary of Air France. A new route with great significance in terms of tourism and the economy will open on 19 June at Budapest Airport. Lyon, both as a city and as a region, has been an uncovered area in the airport’s route network for a long time. The nearest directly accessible destination on offer was Geneva, located approximately 150 kilometers east of Lyon.This new Air France flight, operated by Britair, will arrive in the Hungarian capital twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, using a 100-seater Bombardier CRJ1000 type aircraft. Market research indicates that the new service could quickly become popular amongst travelers.
Lyon is the second largest city in France after Paris, and is also one of the largest industrial centers in the European Union. It is equally important in terms of commerce, serving as the other major economic hub in France besides the capital. Due to its geographic position, it has excellent commercial relations and connections with Italy and Switzerland. The most important industries in the city are chemicals and mechanical engineering, but science, research and development and education are also very strong. Lyon boasts two airports; of these, the Brit Air aircraft flying to Budapest will be using the larger one handling international traffic, Saint-Exupéry Airport.
“We warmly welcome Brit Air and the new destination offered from Budapest,” said Kam Jandu, aviation director for Budapest Airport. “Lyon is a very important business and tourism destination in France and it has been missing from our offer for a long time now. We have been working on establishing this new flight for several years and I am sure that this route will be a real hit amongst passengers of Brit Air, both in France and in Hungary.”
“We have been planning to open a direct flight between Budapest and Lyon for a long time,” commented Botond Melles, country manager for Air France-KLM in Hungary. “Lyon has been one of the most sought-after destinations amongst our business travelers and corporate clients from Budapest for years, but so far a direct flight has not been available. From now on Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France with its numerous world-famous restaurants boasting Michelin stars, is just two hours away. We are delighted that from June we have managed to make Lyon accessible to passengers from Budapest.”
Brit Air, an Air France subsidiary based in Morlaix (Brittany), operates around 300 daily flights to destinations in France and Europe. The airline operates a fleet of 39 regional aircraft made up entirely of Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) models; the smallest is the CRJ100 able to accommodate 50 passengers and the largest is the CRJ1000, which will be used on the Budapest route. Air France, with its regional subsidiaries, operates 1,500 daily flights in France, Europe and worldwide.
Budapest Airport is the best start up ever for Ryanair
Speaking in the Hungarian capital recently Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair described the re-launch of Ryanair’s services from Budapest Airport as: “Probably the most successful start-up ever for Ryanair.” Since Ryanair’s return to Budapest on 17 February, the airline has positioned five aircraft at the airport and launched a total of 30 new routes to destinations across Europe, including Birmingham, Bologna, Bristol, Eindhoven, Malaga, Paphos, Pisa, Venice and Tampere.
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On 14 May a four times weekly service (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) will operate to Dusseldorf-Weeze Germany and a three times weekly service (Wed, Fri, Sun) to Billund in Denmark will commence on 16 May.
According to Michael O’Leary, the load factor in March, Ryanair’s first full month of operation, was in the high 70 per cent range and with strong ticket sales, the April load factor should be around 82-3 per cent for all five Budapest-based aircraft.
In the first six weeks, the airline flew more than 100,000 passengers through Budapest and more than 200,000 passengers have already made bookings to fly with Ryanair to/from Budapest.
“Despite setting up the base in record time, we are delighted with the success of Ryanair’s return to Budapest,” said Kam Jandu, Director of Aviation for Budapest Airport. “Furthermore, I’m happy to confirm that we are now in talks on how to consolidate Ryanair’s position at Budapest Airport as one of our main airline partners.”
Budapest Airport welcomes veteran aircraft
National Airlines’ Douglas DC-8-73(F) type cargo aircraft spent just under a day at Budapest Airport, arriving in the early afternoon on Wednesday 11 April and departing on Thursday morning.
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The popular Hungarian transport website www.iho.hu also reported on the visit of the veteran aircraft bearing the registration marks N155CA. This aircraft type is very rare, as it is more than 40 years old, having been built in 1969. Along with several other types of Boeing aircraft, National Airlines has two such DC-8s.
Extraordinary film shoot at the airport
Budapest Airport’s airside vehicles had a special role to play on 18 April, when a Belgian film crew visited the airport to shoot a few scenes for a film encouraging smokers to quit, as part of a European campaign.
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The yellow Ford Ranger marked A1 transported a cameraman wearing a special StedayCam (which is able to shoot stable footage even during rapid movement) on its platform – at motorway speeds. The cameraman and the camera were of course both fastened to the vehicle, so they were able to safely shoot images of aircraft accelerating on the runway. The star of these scenes was a Travel Service Boeing 737, which starred for hours as part of an effort to convince smokers to quit.
Take a piece of Hungary with you
The latest retail promotion at Terminal 2 allows passengers a glimpse into the world-famous Hungarian handicrafts for 6 weeks, at the Hungarian stage located at the SkyCourt.
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There are numerous traditional activities on show, including Herend porcelain painting, the embroidering of fashion items featuring Hungarian motifs from Memories of Hungary and wine tasting from various regions, courtesy of Hungaricum wine & fine food.
All products on show can be purchased at the shops, in addition to numerous other Hungarian souvenirs, so that every passenger can take a piece of Hungary with them, to always remind them of their trip.
Extra pampering massage after shopping
The Heinemann Duty Free and the Lian Day Spa massage parlor, opened at the end of last year, have launched a joint promotion in April in Terminal 2. All passengers who spent over 50 EUR at the duty free shop located in the SkyCourt received a coupon at the cash desk for 5 extra minutes of massage. The coupon could be redeemed at the Relax & Go salon located on the mezzanine level for any type of massage, with the professional masseuses adding another 5 minutes of relaxing treatment at the end.
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Fliers describing the details of the promotion campaign were available at the Heinemann shop during april, so passengers are made aware of the pleasant discount before they start shopping. The fliers were available during April.
Children’s play area at the SkyCourt
During the configuration of the shops, catering outlets and services at the SkyCourt, Budapest Airport paid special attention to families traveling with small children.
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A large children’s play area was established on the mezzanine level near the restaurants, where children can spend the time until boarding playing with various creative construction toys, drawing or watching popular cartoons. Our passenger Zsuzsanna Csák sent the following feedback about the facility: “Congratulations and thank you for thinking of passengers traveling with small children during the configuration of the SkyCourt. The spacious play area was a pleasant surprise, and my two-year-old son was able to have a good romp before traveling. Perhaps you could do more to promote this play area on your website or even at the airport: “We think of small children as well!” Thank you once again! Traveling with small children is a challenge, and you have made it much easier.” We were delighted with this compliment, and will continue to take every effort to make the time before traveling as pleasant as possible for all age groups.
Improved rent-a-car facilities at Budapest Airport
All international rent-a-car partners have moved in to a new, joint reception facility in the SkyCourt arrival level of Budapest Airport. This is just one step in a series of improvements to offer better services and more comfortable facilities to air travelers wishing to book a rent-a-car vehicle at Budapest Airport. The rent-a-car companies have access to a large area before Terminal 2 of Budapest Airport in the so-called Short Stay Car Park with operational booths to facilitate pick-up and drop-off of rented cars. Our contracted rent-a-car partners have a special welcome desk at the SkyCourt arrival level of Terminal 2 B, including Avis, Buchbinder, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, and Sixt. Arriving passengers can register and pick up the keys within right next to the arrival gate and pick up their car down in the car park within minutes after arrival.For premium card holders every rent-a-car company has dedicated pick-up points at the curbside of Terminal 2. Car return is down at the Short Stay Car Park used by passengers and meters and greeters (as friends and family members are called in airport jargon). Budapest Airport has built operational containers for the car rental company staff at the car park where they can swiftly process all kind of customer needs.
Manel Moreno, Head of Landside Services of Budapest Airport has commented: “We have worked together closely with all our partners to improve the passenger experience at our terminals. Now with the refurbishment of Terminal 2B we have managed to relocate our rent-a-car partners to one dedicated area. With this and the new facility at the car park area we can offer high quality services to our passengers that is usual at all major international airports.”