Budapest airport to become a gateway for China

Budapest Airport (BUD) is establishing itself as the Central and Eastern air cargo hub, with volumes increasing by 60 % since 2015.

Shanghai Airlines, in partnership with China Eastern Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly passenger route with freight services between Budapest Airport  and Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG), China beginning on 7th June.

Last week the BUD cargo team welcomed representatives from the Shanghai Cross-border E-commerce Association (SCEA), and Invest Shanghai, among others, to a day-long workshop and tour of the facilities, organised by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and the Consulate General of Hungary, Shanghai. The event was centered on cooperation and e-commerce.

Rene Droese, Director for Property and Cargo at Budapest Airport said: “We see more and more interest among Hungarian export-oriented sectors like the automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries in the development of air cargo in Hungary and it is our mission to support this drive with further developments. We strongly believe in our great potential for more air cargo capacities between Budapest, Shanghai and other Chinese logistics gateways.”

“This year marks 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Hungary and China, and launching a direct flight between Budapest and Shanghai will provide further impetus in enhancing relations in all fields, especially tourism and logistics,” said Szilárd Bolla, Consul General of Hungary, Shanghai, China.

“I see a great business demand for the cargo capacity of this newly established flight we have been working on for a long time, and I believe there is a strong potential for Budapest to become a regional logistics hub for Chinese enterprises.”

As part of the workshop, the delegates visited BUD’s cargo facilities, including the site of a dedicated air cargo facility which is set for completion in Q4 this year.

Last year, the airport processed 146,113 tonnes of air cargo showing the highest year-on-year growth rate of 14.9 %