FlyBalaton airport in Sármellék closed down for an indefinite period on Saturday, CEO Attila Benkõ announced.
The airport at the western end of Lake Balaton will not reopen until an agreement is reached with new operators, with whom talks are on ongoing, said Benkő. He did not elaborate on the state of the talks nor the potential investors.
The local governments that own the airport have been looking for a new operator for months. The number of passengers passing through Sármellék reached 120,000 last year. However, most of the traffic was generated by Ryanair, which suspended flights to the airport last autumn. The last flights arriving and leaving the airport on the weekend were operated by Lufthansa.
More than 15,000 travellers passed through Sármellék, mostly via Lufthansa, since the airport reopened in April. The towns of Héviz, Keszthely and Zalakaros, as well as some hotels and tour operator Mutsch Ungarn, shared the Ft 30 million cost of reopening the facility.
It was such a pleasent little place to fly from.
Not surprised that this lovely airport has closed. It needs an operator prepared to fly to the UK (for Hungarian and British passengers)otherwise the airport will never be profitable.
I hope one is found soon
I really, really hope this airlink with the rest of Europe will be in action shortly!!! Not only British guests use this airport, a lot of Dutch,Belgium and German guests also used the Ryan Air link from Düsseldorf to Sarmellek!!!
I will be only to happy to switch from Budapest to Sarmellek! So;please, PLEASE start doing business, not only for me, but also for this part of Hungary!
I agree with the commenters. Afater all, a country the size of Hungary needs at least 8-10 international airports, just like Great Britain does. All served by some of the world’s undisputed best airlines, like Ryanair.
Come to think of it, other EU nations such as Andorra, San Marino, and Lichtenstein should also have multiple int’l airports.
For Balaton Airport to reopen, all we need are a few airlines that do not mind operating unprofitable routes year-round and longe term.
Donizelli you forgot Vatican City in your list of countries that need one or more international airports.
And what you also fail to remember is that, in Hungary, unlike the rest of the civilised world, running a profitable company is not necessarily a desired goal.
JD, believe it or not but I was thinking of Vatican City when making my short list. However, I was actually listing COUNTRIES and not CITIES, thus the ommission of V.C. Sorry for the confusion, pardner.
Well, as for running the Balaton Airport unprofitably, I think that has turned out to be the case already with it, so I am somewhat surprised why that fact resulted in the closing of that airstrip.
Regarding the unprofitable routes operated by airlines, I would say that the domestic boys MALEV and WIZZAIR should be the first ones to step in here, not some foreign airline.
Well of course the govt should subside Malev to
operate to Sarmellek. Why, it would be “strategic”,
wouldn’t it? That one magic word can justify any
amount of money down a black hole.
Hi Donizelli, as a slight aside
“Vatican City
At approximately 44 hectares (110 acres) (0.44 km2), and with a population of just over 800, it is the smallest country in the world by both population and area.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City
Might be worth an airport afterall.
Perhaps Malev could offer a low cost shuttle between Vatican City and Balaton. That little loss making beauty would surely be worthy of tax payer support.
@JD: you talk a lot of crap for someone not adding anything useful to anything, friend.
For starters, what types of commercial jets can you operate out of a “country” that is all of 0.44 square kilometers in total land area, you certificable fool?
For others, obviously you have zero clue that V.C. is pretty much built up. Or do you really propose to build an international airport on Piazza San Pietro?
Or do you only talk unadulterated horseshit because there is nothing else more worthwhile to do in your own small-scale, pedestrian life?
Wow Donizelli, lighten up man, I was trying to have some jolly banter. I guess your sense of humour bypass operation worked.
FlyBalaton was a little gem of an airport. Ryanair are as much to blame for its closure as the bird-brains that were responsible for its administration. Malev, by the way, have recently appointed two Germans to pull it out of the shit?
FlyBalaton is just another example of the ever-failing business rate in Hungary.
AMATEURS GOVERN THE COUNTRY, BUREAUCRATS WITH A CHIP ON BOTH SHOULDERS CAUSE CHAOS AND IMPEDE INVESTORS,PUBLIC MONEY DISAPPEARS UNACCOUNTED FOR,
HUNGARIANS SEEK A MESSIAH, THOSE WITH ANY SENSE WORK ABROAD, SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS ARE DIABOLICALLY OUTDATED, LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS A JOKE, THE POLICE AND LEGAL SYSTEM NEED A COMPLETE OVERHAUL…..REFORMS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE HOPELESS SITUATION IN HUNGARY AT THE MOMENT..ETC ETC.
Hope this little lot helps to make your day, JD?