Direct Shanghai-Budapest flights

Going forward, the flight that takes 10 hours and 38 minutes to complete between the metropolis of Shanghai and Budapest will be offered three times a week by the airline, a wholly owned subsidiary of the China Eastern Airlines group.

The state-of-the-art jet – commissioned a little more than a year ago – was welcomed at Liszt Ferenc International Airport by the fire brigade with the traditional water canon salute, provided as a greeting to all new flights and all new aircraft types at Budapest Airport. The Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner of Shanghai Airlines has four classes on this long-haul flight: in addition to 4 Premium Business Class seats, it offers 26 seats in Business Class (where each passenger can enjoy a seat that can be converted into a bed, equipped with their own entertainment centers), 28 Premium Economy Class seats, and 227 conventional Economy Class seats.

Shanghai Airlines will fly between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport three times a week, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. On the ten and a half hour flight, this highly advanced aircraft offers dedicated entertainment centers with every seat with a color screen and a choice of hundreds of films and TV channels, in the language selected by the passenger. Dreamliners fly a lot more quietly than older aircraft, thanks to their muted engines and additional acoustic insulation. Seats are also more comfortable, offering more generous legroom, and more space is available for bags on the overhead shelves too. Due to large windows, unique liquid-crystal blinding, and controlled humidity, flying the Dreamliner is less tiring than on any other aircraft.

The first direct Shanghai-Budapest flight received a ceremonial welcome at Terminal 2B of Liszt Ferenc International Airport. The direct flight will not only make travel shorter between the two cities, but also offers transfer to a number of additional destinations in China and South-East Asia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

“We think it is a major step forward and a tremendous success that it was possible to launch the direct Shanghai-Budapest flight. We were persistently working on it together with our Chinese partners and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Celebrating the new flight is a great opportunity for us to say thank you both to our Chinese partners and to Hungarian diplomats,” said Jost Lammers, the CEO of Budapest Airport. He also pointed out that in addition to boosting business travel and tourism, the new flight also offers significant air freight capacity, as the Dreamliner has a 10-ton belly cargo capacity for high-value goods to be transported between China and Hungary.

Levente Magyar, deputy foreign minister at the celebration of the new route has stressed the importance of the new flight connecting Budapest to the most influential center of China. He also reminded that this year Hungary and China celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishing the diplomatic relations. He also said: “Sino-Hungarian relations have never developed with such a dynamic growth like now, and to strengthen this growth we need stable political and economic backgroun.”

“This is the [aviation] bridge of deep cooperation.” said in his speech Tian Liuwen, vice president of the China Eastern Airlines Group, and continued: “Budapest is the center of Hungarian politics, culture, commerce, and transport, and it is the biggest city of the country. Shanghai is the biggest city of China, driving the process of developing the ’5 centers’, the centers of international business, finance, trade, air traffic, and technological innovation. There is also a relationship between Budapest and Shanghai as twin cities. The opening of this route further strengthens exchanges and cooperation between our countries in various fields.

“China is one of the most important markets for inbound tourism for Hungary. The dynamic and safe city of Budapest has become more and more popular among the Chinese tourists. The direct flights between Budapest and Shanghai will expand the scale of not just the business development plans and trade but will also increase the number of visitors in China and Hungary as well. In order to further strengthen the interest for Hungary as a travel destination, the Hungarian Tourism Agency organizes marketing campaigns and destination workshops in China, while also working on the expansion of yet more direct flight connections.” – said Anna Németh, Deputy CEO for Marketing and Sales of the Hungarian Tourism Agency.