“Hainan Airlines will be launching a direct air passenger service between Budapest and Chongqing on 27 December”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Wednesday in Budapest.

At a press conference in the government lounge at Liszt Ferenc International Airport, Mr. Szijjártó said: “Hungarian-Chinese relations during the past seventy years have never been as strong as they are today, as proven by the fact that China has become Hungary’s largest business partners outside the European Union, with bilateral trade flow increasing by 10 percent last year to approach 9 billion dollars”. “The new air passenger route is also important because it means the number of direct air passenger services between the two countries will be increasing to 13, which is the most in the Central and Eastern European region”, he explained. “The number of Chinese tourists visiting Hungary increased by 300 percent between 2010 and 2018, increasing to 210 thousand during the first nine months of this year”, Mr. Szijjártó said. According to the Minister, 10 percent of Chinese automotive industry manufacturing comes from the Chongqing region, which has a population of 30 million, and accordingly the new direct air passenger route is extremely important for the Hungarian automotive industry and for investors.

CEO of Budapest Airport Rolf Schnitzler told the press that the airport expects to receive 250 thousand Chinese passengers this year, and the new air passenger services are expected to facilitate a further increase next year: in 2020, airlines will be offering 350 thousand seats of capacity for people travelling between Hungary and China. Head of Hainan Airlines’ future Budapest office Min Chang said flights connecting the two cities will be taking off twice-a-week. He highlighted that Hungary and China are the best-cooperating partners in the region, adding that he hopes the new air passenger service will lead to a further improvement in relations between the two parties. Hainan Airlines is not unknown at Liszt Ferenc International Airport, having operated a direct air passenger service between Budapest and Beijing prior to the bankruptcy of Hungarian state airline Malév in 2012.

(MTI)