The new maintenance hangar constructed as a HUF 1bn investment at Liszt Ferenc International Airport was inaugurated in Budapest on 31 August, 2015. At the inauguration ceremony Minister of National Development Miklós Seszták emphasised it was Hungary’s fundamental interest to increase its competitiveness at the aviation market and provide services of proper quality, for which the inauguration of the new hangar could be considered a milestone. In addition to increasing competitiveness, the hangar would ensure an enhanced role for Hungary in aviation.
Considering the single-unit hangar leased by the airlines for 15 years, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air József Váradi said the facility would be able to serve, in addition to the currently used Airbus A320, the A321’s to be purchased for the fleet in November and would give employment opportunity for seventy people. This investment was further evidence that the airlines were committed to Hungary and to Budapest Airport, he added. The chief executive officer revealed that another airplane was to be stationed in Budapest from next March, whereby the fleet in Budapest would grow to ten, and new flights were to be launched to Baden-Baden and Nice.
Chief Executive Officer of Budapest Airport Jost Lammers welcomed the new routes announced and said that for the first time in the history of Ferihegy Airport, the passenger flow is expected to exceed 10 million this year; within two years, it could further rise to 12 million, thanks to the new flights including long-haul ones. The latter requires new investments, the preparations for which have begun already, he said.