The first direct Shanghai-Budapest service received a ceremonial welcome on 7 June at Terminal 2B of Liszt Ferenc International Airport. The route offered three times a week by the wholly owned subsidiary of the China Eastern Airline Group, will not only make travel shorter between the two cities, but also offers transfer to a number of additional destinations in China and South-East Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
“Celebrating the new flight is a great opportunity for us to say thank you both to our Chinese partners and to Hungarian diplomats,” said Jost Lammers, the CEO of Budapest Airport. He also pointed out that in addition to boosting business travel and tourism, the new flight also offers significant air freight capacity, as the Dreamliner has a 10-ton belly cargo capacity for high-value goods to be transported between China and Hungary.
Levente Magyar, deputy foreign minister at the celebration of the new route has stressed the importance of the new flight connecting Budapest to the most influential center of China. He also reminded that this year Hungary and China celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishing the diplomatic relations. He also said: “Sino-Hungarian relations have never developed with such a dynamic growth like now, and to strengthen this growth we need stable political and economic background.”
“This is the [aviation] bridge of deep cooperation,” said in his speech Tian Liuwen, Vice President of the China Eastern Airlines Group, and continued: “Budapest is the center of Hungarian politics, culture, commerce, and transport, and it is the biggest city of the country. Shanghai is the biggest city of China, driving the process of developing the ’5 centers’, the centers of international business, finance, trade, air traffic, and technological innovation. The opening of this route further strengthens exchanges and cooperation between our countries in various fields.
