The Doha, Qatar based award-winning airline has launched four flights weekly between Qatar capital Doha and Hungarian capital, Budapest. The new schedule represents the airport’s first direct flights from the important Gulf region. Qatar Airways is also exploring the option of increasing frequency of flights and destinations, to and from the Central European aviation hub.

The Doha – Budapest (via Bucharest) schedules are:

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays

Flight No. QR943 - Depart Doha 08:15 - Arrive Budapest 13:45
Flight No. QR944 - Depart Budapest 15:00 - Arrive Doha 23:55

Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker and Hungary’s Ambassador to Qatar H.E. László Szabó, were on the maiden Airbus A320 flight, along with a selection of international media and Qatar Airways executives. Al Baker and his delegation were greeted by Jost Lammers, Chief Executive Officer of Budapest Airport and Director of Aviation Kam Jandu. The aircraft was welcomed with a water cannon salute for the inaugural arrival, complemented by a ribbon and cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the new service. The airline’s arrival takes the total number of airlines serving the airport to 33.

Jost Lammers commented: “The start of Qatar Airways scheduled services to Budapest is a significant development in the positioning of Budapest Airport as an essential aviation hub in Central Europe. Until now local passengers wishing to travel to the Middle East or further on to Asia and Australia, have had to back-track to the major western European hubs. This new service to Doha increases the amount of destinations from Budapest, and further strengthens our strategic position regionally.”

The aircraft features 12 Business Class seats and up to 165 Economy Class seats. Lead in prices for the new service from Budapest to Bangkok begin at 648 Euros, to Kuala Lumpur at 591 Euros and to Melbourne at 1,120 Euros. “Qatar Airways has already seen strong forward bookings for Budapest and we will be seriously considering boosting our operations in the near future as we acquire more aircraft,” said Qatar Airways CEO, Mr Al Baker.

Currently 20% of passengers travelling through Budapest Airport are from neighbouring countries. This is anticipated to increase with the launch of the Doha service. The new route is also likely to generate an increased interest in tourism to Budapest, one of Europe’s most visited cities.

“We have been talking with Middle Eastern airlines for some time and are extremely pleased that Qatar Airways, a renowned prestigious carrier, is the first to recognise the potential this region offers,” commented Lammers. For inbound tourism Qatar Airways’ timetable enables a viable four-day vacation in Budapest for those living and working in the Middle East. “We very much hope this will further raise the profile of our beautiful city,” continued Lammers.

Emerald Media appointed as external PR agency

With an active route development programme whilst they continue an ambitious seven year development plan, Budapest Airport’s management has appointed UK-based aviation PR specialist Emerald Media to support external PR into 2011. “We are an active, committed airport with exciting developments occurring this year and going forward, as such we wanted to bring in external support to raise our profile to the international aviation community,” said Kam Jandu, Director of Aviation at Budapest Airport. “Emerald came highly recommended from a number of sources and we like their can-do approach.”

Alison Chambers, Principal of Emerald Media said: “We are delighted to work with such a dynamic and ambitious airport management team that is going to have a lot to say this year. We are looking forward to helping them raise their profile in key aviation, travel and business titles.”

Source: Budapest Airport