The first flight is due to take off on April 28.

LOT will operate the flight five times a week between April 28 and May 20, then six times a week in the summer season from May 21 until October 27.

LOT will use 78-seater Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft on the flights.

Kam Jandu, Budapest Airportʼs flight development director, was cited by MTI as saying that the route could potentially draw 30,000 new passengers, including transfer passengers with seats booked on overseas flights.

LOT already flies to Chicago from Kraków, and the airline will launch regular Budapest-New York flights from May 3, and Budapest-Chicago flights from May 5, he added, fulfilling a long-standing demand for a direct Transatlantic connection from Hungary.

Citing airport data, news portal hvg.hu reported that some 165,000 passengers fly annually between Budapest and New York or Chicago.