Budapest Airport (BUD) has hosted a Chinese logistics and investment delegation for a one-day logistics forum that focussed on cooperation and e-commerce – a few months before a new direct service between Hungary and China opens this summer.
Shanghai Airlines, in partnership with China Eastern Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly passenger route with belly cargo services between BUD and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), on 7 June.
The BUD cargo team welcomed representatives from the Shanghai Cross-border E-commerce Association (SCEA), and Invest Shanghai, among others, to a day-long workshop and tour of the facilities, organised by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and the Consulate General of Hungary, Shanghai last week.
Consul General of Hungary, Shanghai, China, Szilárd Bolla believes there is a strong potential for Budapest to become a regional logistics hub for Chinese enterprises. “This forum provided a great opportunity to show this potential to important Chinese industry players,” he added.
Eastern Air Logistics, which manages cargo on behalf of China Eastern Airlines, the parent company of Shanghai Airlines, also took part in the discussions.
Eastern Air Logistics chief executive officer, chairman of the board of China Cargo Airlines and SCEA chairman, Li Jiupeng said: “We are confident that this will be a valuable addition to our network, which will act as the major air cargo linkage between Shanghai and Hungary.”
As part of the workshop, the delegates visited BUD’s cargo facilities, including the site of a dedicated air cargo facility which is set for completion in Q4 this year.
“There are a lot of opportunities ahead of us and we are proud to announce that in the space of only a year, we will be able to open a state-of-the-art 35,000 m2 air cargo facility called BUD Cargo City at Budapest Airport, said BUD director for property and cargo, Rene Droese.
“We see more and more interest among Hungarian export-oriented sectors like the automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries in the development of air cargo in Hungary and it is our mission to support this drive with further developments.
“We strongly believe in our great potential for more air cargo capacities between Budapest, Shanghai and other Chinese logistics gateways.”
BUD is establishing itself as the Central and Eastern air cargo hub, with volumes increasing by 60 per cent since 2015. Last year, the airport processed 146,113 tonnes of cargo and its highest year-on-year growth rate of 14.9 per cent.
