Those on board the first plane yesterday were mainly Spanish tourists, but the passenger list also included a group of teachers taking part in the Erasmus programme. None of them were aware that they were on board Iberia’s first Budapest-bound flight.

As Hungary’s ambassador to Spain Enikő Győri explained to the state news agency MTI, the airline scheduled the route to meet increased demands set by the ever higher number of people travelling between the two countries. Since the Hungarian state carrier Malév went out of business in 2012, only budget airlines operated on the route, and a more comfortable option is now available for those with higher demands, she said.

The plane’s captain Alejandro González Cortés explained that the Airbus A320 operating on the route left the factory six months ago and is among the Spanish carrier’s most modern jets. It is named Playa de los Lances after a stretch of seaside in southern

Iberia has very good connections with Latin America, meaning that a the number of people using the Budapest flight en route overseas could also be significant. Founded in 1927, the Spanish carrier first launched a direct flight connecting the two capitals forty years ago, on 4 July 1974.

Source: hungarytoday.hu

Republished with permission