Malév Hungarian Airlines
has introduced twice daily flights from Budapest to the Transylvanian city of Cluj Napoca, in addition to existing operations to Bucharest, Timisoara and Constanta in Romania. The route was launched on 11 July.
Malév received permission from the Romanian Aviation Authority on 30th June to buy seats on Carpatair and sell them with the MA flight number. The basis of the code-share agreement between Malév and the Romanian airline means that flights operating between Budapest and Cluj Napoca will now include Malév’s code

Malév also has permission from the Romanian authorities to launch flights to Tirgu Mures, Suceava and Bacau. The Romanian national airline is analysing all three destinations to determine profit levels and appropriate launch dates.

There is an increasing interest in Romanian destinations. Malev’s flight to Bucharest currently operates with load factors consistently above average and the Romanian capital is one of its fastest growing destinations. In the first half of 2005, the total number of customers increased by 10% compared to last year. This is in line with growth for all of the airline’s routes in Eastern Europe during this period, where the number of passengers grew by 9.9%.

The new flights are well timed to enable UK customers to transfer to Cluj easily at Budapest, with the early afternoon flight meeting the inbound noontime flights from both Stansted and Heathrow, and the early morning flight from Cluj arriving in time for westbound flights to the UK. London to Cluj prices start from as little as £155 plus taxes from both Stansted and Heathrow airports.

Malev Hungarian Airlines now flies to over 60 destinations worldwide from its Budapest hub and operates affordable, full frills daily flights from Stansted to Budapest from just £84pp and double daily from Heathrow to Budapest from just £88pp inclusive of taxes and charges. The airline currently boasts the youngest fleet of Boeings of any airline in Europe.
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