Budapest Airport handles record volumes in the first half of 2017

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Budapest Airport


Budapest Airport has handled a record 72,161 tonnes of cargo from January and July, up 19.6 per cent on the same period of 2016.

The hub serving the Hungarian capital processed 49,420 tonnes of air cargo in the first half of 2017, an increase of 16.7 per cent, and 22,741 tonnes of trucked cargo, up 26.5 per cent from the previous year.

Cargo grew 16 per cent in July to 10,729 tonnes, of which 7,432 tonnes was airfreight, up 15.5 per cent, and 3,297 tonnes was trucked freight, an increase of 17.2 per cent.

Budapest Airport cargo manager, Jozsef Kossuth says inbound cargo made up 47 per cent of volumes and outbound 53 per cent.

He says: “The high export volumes are testament to the continued industrial development of the Central European region. All segments of our community, including freighters, belly cargo, and integrators enjoyed volume increase in this period compared to 2016, which was already a record cargo year at Budapest Airport.”

The Central European hub grew thanks to new cargo flows from long-haul passenger routes, from operators including Emirates and Air China, in addition to volume increases from freighter partners including Qatar Airways Cargo, Cargolux and Turkish Cargo.

Budapest Airport property and cargo director, Rene Droese says the hub benefit from an extensive road network to 20 European Union (EU) countries and non-EU countries within trucking distance.

He says: “Together with the airline development team at Budapest, we have leveraged a strong belly cargo network, with Air Canada having already commenced seasonal flights to Budapest, and American Airlines scheduled to launch a daily service from Philadelphia, USA, to Budapest in the summer of 2018.”

LOT Polish Airlines will launch six direct flights per week from Budapest to New York and Chicago in May 2018.

Budapest is transforming cargo facilities as part of the BUD:2020 Development Programme, which will include two state-of-the-art express facilities, and a dedicated freight centre called Cargo City.