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Budapest Airport – recovery continues *** Qatar Airways flight to Budapest celebrates first anniversary *** Budapest Airport in support of clean natural waters *** BUD sign on the terminal facade *** Travel Exhibition 2012 *** Voluntary noise insulation program completed *** Thai Massage Added to Services Offered in SkyCourt *** Redesigned for Brio Bistro
Budapest Airport – recovery continues
Budapest Airport continues to receive offers from airlines wishing to operate services to or from Budapest since the collapse of Malév on Friday 3 February. A series of airlines have already announced new services including: Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Aegean, Ryanair, Smart Wings and Wizz Air, thus contributing to the recovery.
This is in addition to the existing airlines efforts, many of whom have increased capacities on their routes into Budapest. Just 5 days after the national carrier stopped flying, Budapest Airport is delighted to report that in more than 60% of the Malev point to point traffic has been recovered with the new capacities announced. Better still, most of these services will become effective over the next few weeks, ensuring that passengers will not experience too much disruption in their travel plans.
“Whilst the earlier assumptions of a complete loss of transfer traffic have been validated, the announcements made by the airline community since last Friday have put us on the road to recovery,” commented Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport. Budapest Airport is doing its best to attract new airlines, launch new destinations and increase frequencies on existing routes with high demand. Airlines in both the traditional and the low-cost segment have responded positively, some new flights are already operating, with others commencing in the near future.
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Aviation director Kam Jandu stated: “The announcements made in the last few days confirm our long held view that Budapest is indeed a primary destination for many airlines as they bid to grow their presence here in the absence of Malév. In spite of this early success, a gap remains in our business plan and we welcome discussions with airlines interested in services to Budapest Airport. Our published charges and incentive scheme are available to all airlines expressing an interest.”
Even though the above mentioned encouraging developments show signs of recovery of point-topoint traffic the complete loss of 1,5 million annual transfer passengers and income generated by them creates an extremely difficult financial situation for the airport. In order to be able to cope with this dramatic situation Budapest Airport calls the Ministry Of National Development and the relevant authorities to take urgent and coordinated joint steps together with the airport.
Qatar Airways flight to Budapest celebrates first anniversary
One year, 241 flights and five stars. These are the numbers that can be used to describe the Budapest-Doha flight launched by “the world’s five-star airline” exactly one year ago. The new long haul flight not only links the nations of the Persian Gulf with Central Europe, but also reduces travel time from Budapest to India, China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region by about five hours.
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Qatar Airways’ elegantly painted aircraft, decorated with the emblem featuring the Oryx antelope, arrive at Budapest Airport at 12:25 every day and depart at 16:15. In order to better utilize this long parking period and to reach more passengers, the carrier plans to fly to Zagreb during this time, to be able to make the return journey from Budapest to Doha with passengers from Croatia also on board.
“We are delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of the day when we were first able to welcome the passengers of Qatar Airways, the world’s five-star airline, to Budapest,” said Kam Jandu, aviation director for Budapest Airport. “The fact that only eight months after the launch of the flight Qatar Airways is already commuting to Budapest on a daily basis shows just how much demand there is for this flight in Hungary and the region. With the handover of the SkyCourt last year, Budapest Airport not only increased the capacity of Terminal 2, but is also able to provide much better services for passengers, including those flying Qatar Airways.”
Qatar Airways has not only reduced the travel time from Budapest to Doha and the Persian Gulf region. A large number of passengers are transferring in Doha en route to Thailand, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and Kenya. With the new route, their journey has become four or five hours shorter.
Numerous businessmen, pop and film stars use the services of Qatar Airways, who are highly appreciative of the carrier’s on-board and ground services, as well as the high level of discretion it offers. Thus, we can only provide information about one VIP passenger, the latest acquisition of the Budapest Zoo, an Australian wombat (a rare marsupial mammal), which also arrived in Hungary as a Qatar Airways “passenger”, although it made the journey not in the cabin, but in a special cage in the cargo hold.
BUD sign on the terminal facade
The signs designed in accordance with the new corporate image has been placed on the façade of Budapest Airport’s terminals. From now on, the bud:terminal 1, 2a and 2b inscription denote the terminals day and night (illuminated).
The introduction of Budapest Airport’s new corporate image is nearing completion. Smaller items such as pens, lanyards and notebooks have been available in the new colors for months, and the signs in passenger circulation areas have also been fitted with the new design elements. The replacement of the signs on the terminal buildings is the final piece of this transformation process.
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As is well known, the Ferihegy signs were removed in March 2011, when the airport was renamed after composer Ferenc Liszt, with only the numbers of the terminals remaining in place. The 1, 2A and 2B inscriptions have now been amended based on the new corporate image, restoring the completeness of the signs.
Budapest Airport in support of clean natural waters
Budapest Airport installed a water quality monitoring device at the airport to protect the water quality of the Gyáli brook and, indirectly, the Danube.
The new device is not only capable of monitoring, but also plays a direct role in protecting water quality. The system signals if the concentration of pollutants reaches the applicable threshold, and immediately prevents the polluted rainwater from being discharged into natural waters. In such cases, a special sluice gate closes, thus channeling the water collected in the drainage canals into the airport’s waste water drainage system and, ultimately, into the municipal sewage system.
The de-icing fluid is not poisonous, and is easily broken down in natural waters, but in large quantities it is still harmful to the environment, since it extracts oxygen from the water as it disintegrates, which may endanger the local plant and wildlife. Normally, rainwater collected at the airport flows into the Gyáli brook, and from there, it reaches the Ráckeve branch of the Danube. Since the operation of the system, two pumps have pumped over more than 1200 cubic meters of water, which means that burdens on the water quality of the Gyáli brook from the operation of the airport have been reduced by this quantity.
Similar devices are operating at several airports where HOCHTIEF Concessions, the majority owner of Budapest Airport is partly or wholly responsible for operations. According to the unanimous opinion of experts, the system has performed well abroad; thus, the environmental specialists of Budapest Airport are also hopeful of successful operation.
"Budapest Airport’s latest environmental initiative is one of many steps taken in the interest of the sustainable development of the airport,” said Gábor Szarvas, environment, health and safety director for Budapest Airport. "Based on experiences from abroad and from our one-year trial operation, we have every reason to be optimistic that the system will work, and we are delighted that with this successful project we can make a significant contribution to the water quality of the natural waters near the airport,” he added.
Travel Exhibition 2012
Budapest Airport will be represented this year also at Travel Exhibition, one of the largest tourism conferences of Hungary.
Further information can be found at utazas.hungexpo.hu
Voluntary noise insulation program completed
By installing passive acoustic protection at the most exposed properties in District XVII, Budapest Airport’s EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) Directorate has completed the company’s large-scale voluntary noise insulation program spanning four years.
The initiative was launched in 2008 and involved nearly 400 properties in 4 neighboring settlements, with the total cost of the program exceeding 150 million HUF. The contractor in charge of implementing the project fitted noise insulation on the bedroom windows of properties near the airport most exposed to noise burdens, and installed ventilators to provide a source of fresh air during the summer with the windows closed, thus safeguarding rest for residents.
Thai Massage Added to Services Offered in SkyCourt
Lian Day Spa, the first massage parlor at Budapest Airport, has opened.
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As a result of this popular operator’s decision to move in, a new wellness service is offered to passengers on-airport. The massage parlor under the name ’Relax & Go’ at the airport is the third Lian Day Spa unit following their two popular outlets downtown. The parlor offering refreshing back-, head, sole-, and Thai massage as well as special face treatments with cosmetics primarily targets passengers who would like to start or continue their flights in a relaxed state of mind and body. The experience has been that in the initial period it was mostly frequently flying business travelers who popped in for a massage, but since then leisure passengers have also developed a liking to this service.
Only experienced Thai masseurs welcome guests in the parlor on the SkyCourt mezzanine featuring comfortable armchairs for foot massage and special chairs for the back massage to guarantee instant rejuvenation. If you prefer a more extended traditional Thai massage, the two special massage cabins will allow you to experience a perfect chill out.
Redesigned for Brio Bistro
New name and new image for Brio Bistro offers guests the usual high quality and delicious with coffee and sandwiches.
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Brio Bistro is located in the departure transit area at Terminal 1. It is open non-stop, offering sandwiches prepared on the spot, salads, delicious desserts, as well as freshly ground coffee specialties and a wide range of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks.