Budapest Airport (BUD) has set itself ambitious growth targets and developed a strategy for developing additional routes to Asia. Next summer, new connections to and from China are to be created in the freight and passenger sectors. At the same time, e-commerce capacities at BUD airport will be expanded.
The plans are part of the ongoing expansion program “BUD20:20″, which includes the development of Cargo City with an investment volume of EUR 32.6 million. In addition, the flight plan is constantly expanding. New freight routes have been added to BUD by both Silk Way West Airlines and AirBridgeCargo.
“China plays an important role in our growth program “BUD:2020”. To meet the growing demand for imports from China, we are working with some of the country’s largest logistics and transportation companies,” says René Droese, Director of Property and Cargo at Budapest Airport.
“The shipping industry in our catchment area is exploring new ways to reach the Asian market. In addition, we are seeing an increasing demand from Chinese e-commerce companies for efficient distribution centers in Eastern Europe, which represents a unique opportunity for us, “says René Droese.
E-commerce is a major growth factor in the airfreight market. Central and Southeastern Europe alone accounted for a significant share of the e-commerce market in 2017, with sales of EUR 73 billion. Budapest has an annual growth rate of more than 25 per cent, making BUD one of the fastest-growing cargo airports in Europe is.
“The electronics and automotive business is booming in the region in and around Budapest. More recently, Chinese investment in these areas has been announced, “says René Droese, who sees the airport prepared for this high growth. The new Cargo City project, which is currently under construction, will provide fast and highly efficient logistics solutions for all business-to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer markets.