Budapest Airport edges further east with Shanghai Airlines

Budapest Airport is delighted to announce another momentous enhancement in its route network development, with the confirmation that Shanghai Airlines, in partnership with China Eastern Airlines, will launch a three times weekly service between the Hungarian gateway and China’s largest city, Shanghai. Set to launch on 7 June, the 9,645-kilometre sector to Shanghai Pudong Airport will be operated by the carrier’s fleet of brand-new 787-9s.

Until now the Budapest-Asian market has been underserved, but this new service means Asia will become more accessible than ever, introducing an additional 41,000 seats to the Asian market during the season. Adding Shanghai to its network this summer will see Budapest provide more connections to several new Chinese cities, plus other Asian destinations including Hong Kong, Singapore, Osaka Kansai, Seoul Incheon and Tokyo Narita.

With Shanghai Airlines entering the airport’s roll call, Budapest will boast the triple alliance crown for long-haul operations, as the SkyTeam affiliate joins Star Alliance carriers LOT Polish Airlines and Air China, plus oneworld members American Airlines and Qatar Airways. Becoming Budapest’s second Chinese airline, the new route will complement Air China’s existing service to Beijing, a route which itself saw a 5.2% increase in traffic last year. Shanghai Airlines’ arrival means that the Hungarian capital city will offer close to 192 departures to China during Summer 2019, up 60% versus last summer.

Commenting on the major efforts made to attract this important new service, Jost Lammers, CEO, Budapest Airport says: “We’re immensely proud to announce the arrival of Shanghai Airlines and the introduction of another direct link between Budapest and the Far East. Alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we’ve been working extremely hard on this project for many years to illustrate Hungary’s global economic strength and popularity.” Lammers added: “Shanghai is proving to be one of our major indirect Asian city pairs with an increasing number of Chinese river cruise passengers choosing Budapest as their arrival or departure point. With a potential market of more than 80,000 passengers per annum, the possibility of the service evolving into a year-round operation remains open. I have absolutely no doubt that this new route will be extremely popular and succeed in extending Hungary’s connections to the world.”