The direct aerial connection between the Serbian and the Hungarian capitals has been re-established after a break of 17 years.

Budapest Airport welcomes the Hungarian national carrier’s latest new flight, as a result of which passengers are now able to fly to Belgrade directly on a daily basis. The new direct flight takes the number of destinations accessible from Budapest to 79, out of which Malév operates scheduled flights to 43 destinations, now including Belgrade.

Malév suspended its Belgrade flight, one of the most important cities in its route network, in 1992 due to the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars. Since then, Hungarian passengers have only been able to travel to the Serbian capital by transferring.

The new flight could prove popular primarily among passengers looking to travel from the region to Northern and Western Europe. Many Serbians travel regularly to Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Malév operates flights to several cities in these countries on a daily basis, offering convenient connection times with the new Belgrade flight.

Already about 30 000 Serbian passengers a year have been using the Hungarian national carrier’s services thus far, and Budapest Airport is hopeful that this number will continue to increase thanks to the new direct flight. The number of business passengers is expected to increase during the summer season, which offers good prospects for Malév to increase the frequency of the flight from one a day.

‘We are happy to welcome Malév’s Belgrade flight to Ferihegy, and are especially delighted that, in cooperation with our national carrier, we have once again managed to commence operations to a new country,” commented Kam Jandu, aviation director for Budapest Airport. “We see great prospects in the Balkans market, so as part of our route development strategy, we are trying to expand Budapest Airport’s connectivity in this direction as well, working to turn Ferihegy into one of the most important hubs in Central-Eastern Europe,” he added.

Printable version