Abu Dhabi: Prospects of Emirates and Etihad Airways launching flights to Hungary significantly increased on Wednesday following the signing of an agreement between UAE and Hungarian authorities on Wednesday.
Saif Al Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) signed an air services agreement with Gyula Gyori, Hungary’s Director of Civil Aviation, at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo.
“This will allow the operation between [the two countries] without any restrictions,” Al Suwaidi said in an interview.
Officials from both countries are now hopeful that the legal framework will encourage operators to launch flights between the two countries.
“The signing of this agreement is important for Hungary because this is the first step in the air services that [the two countries] can base long term and mid term cooperation on civil aviation,” Gyori said.
Wizz Air, a Hungarian low cost carrier, is the only airline offering direct services between the two countries. Last October it launched flights from Budapest, Hungary to Al Maktoum International in Dubai World Central (DWC), becoming the first European low cost airline to fly to the UAE. Wizz Air was able to launch flights to the UAE under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from the GCAA.
Emirates and Etihad Airways do not currently fly to Hungary.
But Gyori said the Hungarian government has received a letter of intent to launch flights from Emirates. A spokesperson for Emirates stated that it “has no immediate plans to launch flights to Hungary”
Etihad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
