Up to half of the airports and airstrips in the Hungarian countryside could be closed, representing billions of forints of lost investment, writes Világgazdaság.
According to the report, the problems in the sector are due less to overall economic stresses than bad policies on the part of local governments and other public bodies, which retard competitiveness.
While a new national law regulating air travel remains delayed, a number of regulatory quirks are seen as hurting smaller airports and airfields. For example, aircraft owners using such facilities currently pay Ft 200 more per liter of kerosene than what international carriers pay.
As a result, local governments are increasingly looking to offload such assets.