The Hungarian capital’s airport Budapest Liszt Ferenc has been making a name for itself during the past couple of years with their expansion plans and good passenger and cargo results. They have also tied up with Duesseldorf and Hamburg airports in order to combine synergies on marketing and sales strategies, as well as making inroads into China.
Hosting TIACA in November
The International Air Cargo Association, better known to the trade as TIACA, will hold their Executive Summit (ES) and Annual General Meeting from the 20th to 22nd of November and have chosen
Budapest Airport as the host of this year’s event.
This is seen as another feather in BUD’s hat as the TIACA ES is one of the most important air cargo events each year and is attended by members and guests from around the globe. The two day event
consists of a series of round table debates on pressing cargo issues, panel discussions and keynote speeches. The event will coincide with the opening ceremony of Budapest’s new dedicated
freight centre which will be named as BUD Cargo City. TIACA’s annual gala dinner will be held in the historic BUD Terminal One building which was officially closed in 2012.
Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport commented that: “this is a huge accomplishment, not only for Budapest Airport, but for the whole air cargo community of the Central and Eastern European
region.“
From near bankruptcy to profitability
It’s not been an easy ride for BUD Airport since the Hungarian national carrier Malev went into liquidation at the end of 2012. Many had thought at that time that the airport would slide into
being a second rate eastern European airport which would only serve a handful of regional carriers.
Things have turned out totally differently and BUD is stronger than ever and presently investing a further 120 million euros in expansion, which also includes the new cargo terminal.
Budapest Airport opened back in 1950 and was renamed as Liszt Ferenc Airport in 2011 after Hungary’s famous componist Franz Liszt. Last year saw just over 146,000 tons of air cargo moving through
the airport along with a record 14.9 million passengers. It is now owned by a consortium headed by Duesseldorf-based AviAlliance which holds 55.4% of the shares. AviaAlliance which also has
holdings in Athens Airport (40%), Duesseldorf Airport (30%), Hamburg Airport (49%) and San Juan Airport (40%) - was previously known as HOCHTIEF AirPort Ltd, a daughter company founded by
HOCHTIEF in 1997.
The investment seems to be paying off as BUD positions itself as the Central Eastern European hub for cargo and passenger traffic.
CargoForwarder Global reported in an earlier issue that BUD Airport recently hosted a Chinese logistics and investment delegation for a forum which was aimed at looking for common ground for the
start of an e-commerce lane between Hungary and China. The aim is to position BUD Airport as an attractive e-commerce distribution centre for both western and eastern European destinations.
Surely a good move on the part of the Budapest Airport managers.
John Mc Donagh
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