Hungary, South Korea agree to set up direct flights

Budapest, April 14 (MTI) – Hungary and South Korea have agreed to launch direct flights between their capital cities this summer, Hungary’s foreign affairs and trade minister said.

Péter Szijjártó told a press conference on Thursday that over the first phase of cooperation, Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second biggest carrier, will operate one flight a week between Budapest and Seoul from the beginning of July to the end of August.

The agreement was reached after negotiations for a year and a half.

Asiana Airlines carried 90 million passengers last year with a fleet of 84 aircraft, the minister said. Hungary will be the airline’s first central European destination and the sixth overall in Europe.

Szijjártó expressed hope that favourable passenger numbers would help convince Asiana Airlines to operate more flights in the future.

The minister said bilateral trade volume last year came close to a record 2 billion US dollars with Hungarian exports to South Korea growing by 42 percent.