Malév Hungarian Airlines stops operation

Based on the Board of Directors’ decision, Hungary’s national airline ceased its operation to minimize its losses. According to the company's statement, after nearly 66 years of continuous operation, Malév aircrafts will not depart from 6 a.m. on February 3.

Malév's very last flight landed (as seen on the picture) at 11.33 on Friday, February 3 at Budapest's international airport en route from Helsinki, Finland. The company's websites also ceased operation, only showing a short communiqué by the company's CEO, Lóránt Limburger.

“Unfortunately, the event occurred which we had a greatest fear of and we wanted to avoid with might and main. Although, until the latter days there were prospects to continue operation and the trust of our passengers is unbroken, our partners lost their trust due to the information published in the last days and they started to ask for payment of their services in advance. This speeded up the cash outflow and the situation of the airline became untenable. It is also known that the owner, despite the best intentions, is unable to provide additional financial resources to operate after the EU decision. Considering all these the Board decided to order the cease of operation of the Hungary’s National Airline. We apologize to all of our passengers,” the statement said.

In reaction to the stoppage of Malév flights, several airlines flying to Budapest indicated that they would increase the capacity of their flights to and from Budapest. At the same time, the European commission stated that it would provide the Hungarian authorities with all possible assistance in its scope of authority so that they can handle the situation. Malév Chairman János Berényi announced that the stoppage concerned 7,200 passengers waiting in Budapest or at foreign airports. Malév contacted foreign airlines to help transport the passengers. The stoppage of Malév flights does not affect the operation of Malév branches like Malév Ground Handling.

Former finance minister Péter Oszkó told the news portal index.hu that there were talks - aready in 2009 - about the launch of a new airline that would step in Malév's place one day after a bankruptcy but negotiations halted as partners waited for the new government to come into office after the elections at the spring of 2010. Since then, Oszkó said, the current government failed to prepare for such an eventuality.