The new air passenger service between Budapest and Philadelphia recently launched by American Airlines following a break of seven years, which landed at Liszt Ferenc International Airport a little before 9 a.m. on Monday, has been given an official welcome.
The Dallas-based airline launched the new service on 4 May, and its Boeing 767s will by making scheduled flights between the two cities until the end of the summer season on 28 October.
At the ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said Hungary maintains both defence and cultural relation with the United States, but economic relations are strongest. The 1700 American companies operating in Hungary employ some 100 thousand Hungarians, 50 major American investment projects have been realised over the past four years, and the United States is Hungary’s largest export market outside the European Union, the Minister explained.
However, until now the fact that there was no direct air passenger service between the two countries represented a competitive disadvantage in negotiations concerning new investments, but this situation has now changed thanks to LOT’s new services to New York and Chicago, and American Airlines’ newly launched air passenger service to Philadelphia.
Mr. Szijjártó expressed his hope that more long-haul air passenger services will be launched in the near future, first in an eastern direction and then towards the west.
CEO of Budapest Airport Jost Lammers stressed that there has never been an air link between Budapest and Philadelphia, and said he was not only expecting many direct passengers, but also many transfers.
This was verified by American Airlines’ Director for European and Canadian Operations Richard Muise, who said there is significant interest with relation to both direct and transfer passenger traffic. The most popular U.S. destinations for passengers travelling from Budapest are Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
The event was also attended by United States Chargé D’affaires David Kostelancik, who said he hopes the new air passenger service will help reinforce cultural, political and economic relations.
American Airlines, which is the world’s largest airline, flew to and from Budapest in 2011, when it operated scheduled flights between Budapest and New York as the partner of Hungarian state airline Malév, but which it did not extend for the next summer season after Malév went into bankruptcy in February 2012. The airline will now be flying to one of the west coast’s largest transport hubs, Philadelphia, which provides access to 35 American cities in under three hours.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)
