One would think that an airport that has just lost 40 % of its traffic due to the collapse of local airline MALEV would jump at the offer of Ryanair to take up the slack. Budapest Ferihegy has been leased to Hochtief but it is not a far fetched idea to surmise that their feet-dragging is politically motivated. The current Hungarian government was left with eggs on their face after the collapse of the “national” airline and seeing a foreign company skim the market would go counter to their nationalistic impulses. To-day will be critical with a Ryanair delegation travelling to Budapest to clarify the situation and the Hungarian premier holding its “state of the Union” speech where he is unlikely to leave the matter of MALEV unmentioned. He would probably hate to see the Ryanair rescue plan being announced the same day his praise for himself is broadcast on national television. Well, we will see…
In the meantime, read the Ryanair press release on the issue.
6 Feb – Budapest Rescue – Update
Ryanair this evening confirmed that it has secured slots for all of its proposed fights from Budapest Airport from 17th Feb next.
Ryanair’s €9.99 rescue fares went on sale last Friday in order to minimise the disruption to Hungarian consumers/ visitors arising from the closure of Malev.
However, despite repeated letters and phone calls Ryanair has still not received a reply from Hochtief Budapest Airport to our commercial proposal discussed with senior airport management on Friday afternoon.
A senior Ryanair management team is travelling to Budapest on Tuesday morning to meet with Hochtief Budapest Airport to finalise acceptable commercial terms for Ryanair’s largest ever investment in Hungarian tourism. Ryanair will also be meeting with Malev pilots, cabin crew and engineers to invite job applications to help Ryanair crew its four aircraft/31 route Budapest base which is due to commence on Friday 17th Feb.
Ryanair has however warned prospective passengers that if it can not agree terms with Hochtief Budapest Airport tomorrow it may be forced to delay the launch of its Budapest base, delay the rescue of Hungarian consumers/ visitors and delay the recruitment of Hungarian pilots cabin crew and engineers.
Given the speed of Ryanair’s emergency response last friday to Malev’s closure, the delays by Budapest Airport in responding to Ryanair’s proposals is regrettable and concerning. It would be a pity if Budapest Airport’s high costs and slow response cause a delay in Ryanair’s €300m euro rescue plan for Hungarian traffic, tourism and jobs.
Ryanair management will be happy to brief the press during the course of their visit to Budapest on Tuesday/Wednesday this week.
Read the original Ryanair rescue plan for Hungary here.