Malev: Serbian-Hungarian air link is reopened

Karim Makhlouf, Chief Commercial Officer of Malév, emphasized: "Belgrade has been missed for a long time from Malév's network, which is why we are now focusing on this flight giving us excellent opportunities. More than 30,000 Serb passengers flew with us annually in the past and it is obvious that this number is going to increase thanks to the direct connection. We are very happy that from today we can offer directly our quality services, our competitive prices and excellent network, which provides access to 60 European and Middle Eastern destinations. The interest for the new flight is very high, we have already 2000 bookings only for December which means 70% load factor. This achievement is very unique in case of a new route."

The new flight is also a remarkable event from a tourism aspect, Akos Niklai, chairman of the Hungarian National Tourist Office, emphasized in his presentation to local journalists and travel agents in Belgrade. "Neighbouring source countries have traditionally played a significant role in the incoming tourism of Hungary. We are bound to these countries by close economic, historical, social and cultural ties. Due to changing consumer habits developing in the wake of the global economic crisis and the increasing preference for nearby travel destinations, the significance of these countries is becoming ever greater. Serbia is one of the countries that the Hungarian National Tourist Office - in line with its strategy developed in response to the crisis - is giving even greater emphasis to. The reopening of the Malév Belgrade service will be of great assistance in our efforts directed towards stimulating Serbian incoming tourism."

Malév flights are expected to attract travellers from the region primarily wanting to fly to North and West Europe. A significant number of Serbs travel to Germany, Switzerland and Italy; Malév operates daily flights to several cities in these countries, and these flights all offer convenient connections to the Belgrade service. In addition, due to the intensive political, cultural, ethnic and other bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries, visitors making "official" trips to Hungary also represent great potential business opportunities for Malév. The airline, reckoning on enhanced business traffic in the summer period, is already planning to further increase the number of its flights from one a day.

Malév suspended operations to Belgrade in 1992 because of the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars. Belgrade used to be one of the most important cities in the Malév network and Serbia was a key destination country.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 06-Jan-10

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