Budapest Airport announced that they signed an agreement with two major Chinese cargo hubs for the development of aviation links between China and Hungary. The memorandum of understanding was signed during the Belt and Roan Forum summit held in China.
The signing of the agreement was done by Wang Zhendong, deputy managing director of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, and René Droese, chief property and cargo officer of Budapest Airport, operator of Budapestʼs Ferenc Liszt International. The signing was witnessed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó.
Budapest Airport is also scheduled to ink a cooperation agreement with Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in May during the visit of a Chinese delegate to Budapest. Mr. Szijjártó noted at the ceremony that between two countries ¬like China and Hungary, with quite a distance between them geographically, strong economic cooperation is only possible if they are well-connected, which is why aviation connections, direct flights between Hungary and China, are of key importance.
Mr. Szijjártó also said that for the same reason, they are delighted that a cooperation agreement between the airport of Xi'an and Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport is signed, as this agreement may link additional Chinese cities to the network where direct flights are available from Hungary. He added that in addition to economic ties, our connections in tourism can also be developed further. He emphasized that last year, a record number of 256,000 Chinese tourists visited Hungary, representing a growth rate of 14%.
Budapest Airport said that the support of the diplomats from Hungary and the help of the trade promotion experts helped to double the weekly capacity of cargo flights between Budapest, Hong Kong, and Zhengzhou. They also aided in enhancing belly cargo links onboard scheduled Air China passenger flights between Beijing and the Hungarian capital.
Josh Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport, said that the foundation stone was laid with the direct connection to Zhengzhou, and now it is time to further intensify our cooperation with our new Chinese partners and thus exploit the enormous potential in the freight business in particular. He added that Zhengzhou, Xiʼan, and Budapest share a great dynamic of growth, and we are very confident that we can mutually benefit from this cooperation.
The aim of the agreements is to develop freight flows between China and Budapest in addition to the tourism potential in passenger traffic. They freight flows are ensured by coordinating a regular, close exchange of information.
