An Irish consortium running Hungary's second biggest international airport has secured a return on its €8.5 million investment in upgrading the facility with the decision of State carrier Malev to start scheduled services from the airport.
Cape Clear Aviation (CCA) last year took a 99-year lease on FlyBalaton airport as part of a programme to bring its terminal, landing strip, apron and safety and security provision up to modern European Union standards. The former military airfield which had been handed over to two local towns upon the Soviet withdrawal from Hungary needed a cash injection to fund the upgrade. The Irish are among the most active investors in the country.
The start of scheduled Malev services is seen helping the airport fulfil its ambition of boosting passenger numbers to 55,000 this year and 100,000 in 2006, from around 20,000 last year.
""This is a signal of what both parties - FlyBalaton and Malev - plan for the future," said S-P O'Mahony, commercial director of CCA. "They have a very close and very co-operative relationship.
"The start of the Stuttgart service is not only a chance to celebrate that relationship, but the fact that FlyBalaton airport has now been brought up to the highest technical standards."
The weekly flights to Stuttgart are expected to lure increasing numbers of tourists to the area.
"There are ongoing discussions with Malev regarding the key routes that it needs to be operating from spring 2006," said Mr O'Mahony, a former commercial attache at the Irish embassy in Budapest.
Agoston Gubicza, the Hungarian managing director of CCA, also envisages a key role for FlyBalaton airport in developing Hungary's moribund market in domestic air services. "We are in talks with three companies, among them an Irish airline, about launching and operating domestic flight services in Hungary," Mr Gubicza said recently.
Persistent industry rumours suggest Ryanair may also be planning flights to FlyBalaton airport, having begun hiring Hungarian pilots and cabin crew earlier this year.
Ryanair has declined to confirm or deny that talks are taking place, however.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)