Awards galore for the airlines

There were awards galore for airlines operating to Hungary’s premier aerial gateway at Budapest Airport’s traditional airline awards gala. In addition to the airlines, travel agencies and certain embassies which are of key importance for the airport were also invited to this year’s event.

Budapest Airport presented awards in a total of nine categories, which illustrates the diversity of the aviation market at the Hungarian capitol airport. There were categories for full service and low cost carriers and even for cargo airlines. Last year Budapest Airport handled a total of 8.1 million arriving and departing passengers, of which 1.9 million were transported by low cost carriers and about 1.6 million were transfer passengers. A total of 109 811 aircraft movements, that is, landings and takeoffs, were registered at the airport in 2009.

The best developing airline award amongst full service carriers went to Malév, which managed to boost its passenger traffic significantly, by more than 6 % compared to 2008 (excluding long-haul traffic stopped in October 2008). Out of the low cost carriers, Wizz Air won the same accolade, which continued its steadfast march forward and carried almost 20 % more passengers to and from Budapest than last year. The best developing award was presented to Swiss out of the full-service airlines for having carried more than 25 % more passengers, thanks primarily to its greatly developed Geneva flight. In the low cost segment, the same award went to Norwegian for its performance in 2009, which involved a traffic increase in excess of fifty percent.

The best performing cargo airline award went to Cargolux from Luxembourg, which attained a market share of nearly forty percent with the 15 000 tons of cargo transported in 2009.

Budapest Airport’s award for best marketing at the airport went once again to Turkish Airlines. THY’s exterior advertising proved very successful at Terminal 2. The award for best marketing off airport was presented to Malév, which was very active in 2009 both in Hungary and abroad with its creative campaigns.

The best performing travel agency award went to Vista after it sold the most plane tickets in 2009. The best performing tour operator was Neckermann by selling the highest number of charter packages.

“Based on the positive feedback from our airline partners last year, the company decided to continue and extend this event to also involve travel agencies,” said Kam Jandu, Budapest Airport’s director aviation at the event.

“The economic crisis has reminded the aviation industry even more that cooperation pays off,” said CEO Jost Lammers. He also reminded participants that before the end of the year, Budapest Airport plans to complete the SkyCourt, the biggest development project of the last ten years, which will significantly enhance passenger comfort at Terminal 2.

www.bud.hu