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Budapest Airport handled over 894,000 passengers last month seeing its busiest month of September ever. The airport saw an increase of 6.1% in passenger traffic over September 2010 and an increase of 5.3% compared with the last record year in 2007. These latest results reinforce outstanding third quarter results that were well ahead of both the EU average and Budapest’s peer airports within the central and eastern European region. Budapest Airport expects to handle over 8.7 million passengers by the end of 2011. Current year-to-date figures stand at 6.8 million – 533 000 more than at the same time a year ago.
Kam Jandu, Director of Aviation, commented: “These highly satisfying results reflect our efforts to bring more airlines and passengers to Budapest. Our efforts were rewarded recently as the airlines voted Budapest Airport the European winner of the 2011 World Routes Airport Marketing Awards. Together with the Hungarian National Tourism Organisation, we are working to ensure that more foreign travellers choose Budapest and Hungary as their destination of choice, and that more transfer passengers enjoy the efficiency and the comfort afforded by the new bud:skycourt terminal building.”
Strong performances from major flag carriers such as Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways and Air France contributed to the growth with a 16% increase in traffic in this market segment over 2010. The Hungarian carrier, Malev also performed well accounting for the majority of the 12% growth in transfer traffic in September. Long haul traffic increased by almost 45% compared with September 2010, attributable primarily to American Airlines daily flight to New York and Qatar Airways flights to Doha with its increased frequency to daily direct services from September 1st, 2011.
The continued growth in passenger numbers demonstrates the attraction of the airport’s route network to both business and leisure travellers alike. London remains the most popular destination followed by Paris and Frankfurt.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
