Hainan Airlines has relaunched its Chongqing-Budapest direct service with the first aircraft landing in Liszt Ferenc international airport on Friday.

Addressing the flight’s formal welcome ceremony, the foreign minister noted that Hungary operates 14 visa centres in China and Budapest has direct flights to five Chinese cities.

Last year, 262,000 Chinese tourists visited Hungary in January-November, spending 429,000 guest nights in the country, Péter Szijjártó said.

Kam Jandu, chief commercial officer of Budapest Airport, said that Hainan last operated a direct flight to Budapest in 2011.

The airlines will operate the Chongqing-Budapest flight with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner two times a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

According to data released by the airport, 220,000 Chinese tourists flew to Budapest in 2019, up 18 percent compared with the previous year.

Featured photo by Tamás Kovács/MTI