Malév: new and surprising routes in Europe
Malév launches four new flights which differ radically from the traditional concept, in July 2005. With the flights operating between Dublin-Athens, Helsinki-Athens, Munich-Balaton and Stuttgart-Balaton (FlyBalaton) the Hungarian national airline takes advantage of the so called 7th operational right within the European Union. The flights will operate at night exploiting the capacity of the fleet. 'Malév comes out of the limited Hungarian market, and enters the much bigger European one' – emphasised the company's CEO János Gönci at a press conference. Speaking the language of aviation he said: ’Malev is climbing to a higher flight level'. Peter Hónig Chairman of Malév added: 'with this new concept Malév is a step ahead of its competitors exploring the possibilities in developing the European network the national airline is strengthening its market positions'.
S-P O'Mahony, the sales manager of FlyBalaton told to the press: 'We are glad to greet Malev as the first commercial airline operating scheduled flights making new connections with the significant German market'.
Heading Athens
Malév flights will take off three times a week from Dublin and Helsinki towards Athens. There is a considerable traffic from both cities to the Greek capital, which up to now, could only be realised with transfer. Flights will operate between 1 July and 29 September during the season.
Malev's Dublin-Athens flight will be the only scheduled direct flight, probably of which the Irish travellers will take advantage of, avoiding the transfer at any European airport. Malév will fly B737/700 NG late in the evening from Dublin on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and will return early morning back to Dublin, and still before noon land in Budapest.
Finnair has only one flight a week from Helsinki to Athens which has a stopover in Istanbul heading back. The flight covers only one third of the traffic between the two cities, so according to expectations Malev's three flights could easily become very popular amongst Finnish passengers. Malév is going to operate its service on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday with a late departure from Helsinki with its B737-700/800 NG aircrafts to Athens, and back to Helsinki the next morning.
Malév flight to Lake Balaton
Malév flights once a week from Munich and Stuttgart operated by CRJ aircrafts to the resorts at lake Balaton, popular among German tourists, make easier the arriving at FlyBalaton airport of Sármellék. Both flights operates on Saturdays, when change of turn takes place, between 2 July and 24 September. Being summer holiday and health resort the region is very popular among German tourists. The hotels close to Hévíz operate with an average of 70-80% capacity all the year round, and there are further hotel expansions in the vicinity. Malév with this FlyBalaton flight launches its first domestic destination in a long time.
Ágoston Gubicza, the managing director of FlyBalaton said: 'This is the first step to draw the airport of FlyBalaton to the map, as an international airport within the EU. We consider Malév’s commitment as an important strategic step, and see further possibilities of cooperation in the near future. This also supports the ambitions of the government to assist the development of the Hungarian regional airports and strengthens the claim for further subsidizing and cooperation.'
Malév Ltd.
2005.04.20.
