Liszt Ferenc Airport could become region’s most important hub by end of decade

Liszt Ferenc International Airport could become the region's most important trade and tourism hub by the end of the decade, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Friday in Budapest, at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the airport's new building complex.

"We're having a busy week. On Tuesday evening, together with [singer] György Korda we established the 'Ulti' [Hungarian card game] Digital Civic Circle, yesterday together with Donald Trump we established the Board of Peace, while today we're laying the foundation stone for the third terminal of Liszt Ferenc Airport," Mr Orbán said.

He recalled that it was less than twenty years ago that the "atrocity" happened that the then government sold the country's "goose that lays the golden eggs," the airport, and at that to a foreign investor group which regarded short term profits as its number one goal, rather than the comprehensive development of the airport. Therefore, developments came to a halt, real estate speculation started, no railway connection between the airport and the centre of the city was established; the then investors were satisfied with a medium-sized airport of middling significance by international standards, the Prime Minister added.

At the same time he stressed that after 14 years of hard work and perseverance, the state had again acquired a majority stake in the Hungarian airport, and for this they had found an excellent French partner, Vinci, which had decades of experience in the field of operation and development.

He said last year the airport broke a record, reaching a passenger traffic number of 20 million, and generated a revenue of EUR 331 million which is a quarter more than planned, and this in turn means that the initial investment could be recovered two years earlier than expected.

The two most important developments are already in progress, he said in continuation, recalling that a concession was invited for the construction of the railway line connecting the airport with Nyugati Railway Station, and now the construction of the new terminal that will cost a billion euros can also start. With this, Central Europe's largest development of this nature will be implemented here, and according to calculations, some 25 million passengers could use the Budapest airport annually by the end of the decade, Mr Orbán said.

If all our plans are realised, by the end of the decade, Liszt Ferenc Airport could grow into the region's most important trade and tourism centre, he stated. He highlighted at the same time that the biggest threat to their plans was the war because it was blocking the economy, and so a war-stricken neighbourhood was not a tourist attraction.

"Therefore, we must stay out of this war under any circumstances, and this is why it is important that every Hungarian citizen should carefully consider how Hungary should continue life after April," he warned.

"I can tell you one thing for sure, that as long as there is a patriotic government in office, the airport and quite a few other similar strategic investments will remain in Hungarian hands and will generate profits for the Hungarian people."

"This flight departs from Budapest, and there is no transfer in Brussels," he said.

Mr Orbán also spoke about the fact that he had already concluded many deals on behalf of the Hungarian government, but the best agreement he had ever concluded was the one he had concluded with Vinci. He said this agreement paved the way for re-acquiring Hungary's only international airport, and with this they avoided the trap that state ownership often brings with itself, namely that the state should engage in something it has no expertise in.

In continuation, he said the state does not know how to operate an airport, "office does not equal expertise," and so they had to find the right partner who was prepared and able to provide professional services on the foundations of a highly valuable state asset, increasing its value.

He stressed: while investors, state ownership and development plans are important, the future and success of the airport depends on the quality of the people who work there. He added that if we did not have fantastic qualified workers as we do in Hungary in both the production and services sectors, no investment could work in Hungary.

The Prime Minister said "our advantage, by regional, European and even world standards, is that we have the best […] but, at any rate, some of the best workers in the world who are able to operate any asset - be that about the production of cars or the operation of airports - to the highest world standards."

Addressing the executives of the company Vinci, he said "we don't simply look upon them as investors, but have taken them in wholeheartedly." Mr Orbán said "we're a suspicious kind." Those whom we let in we wholeheartedly take in; those whom we do not trust we do not let in. Once we let someone in, they are in the family, they are a part of the nation, they are a part of the community, from then on, they are family members, he said, adding that it is the other way around in the West: they are letting in those they should not, while they are not letting in those they would need.

The Prime Minister also underlined that the Hungarians were "a people operating at eye level." The Hungarians have never colonised anyone and have never allowed themselves to be colonised. "We don't look up to anyone, other than the Almighty, and neither do we look down on anyone. We negotiate at eye level," he explained.

Mr Orbán said in Hungary everyone has a chance to find out what they are capable of, who they are, what quality they represent, what plans they have, and if they prove themselves, "the friendship remains; if not, our ways part." In this sense, Hungary is not a complicated country: it has Catholic generosity and Protestant stringency all at once, the Prime Minister stated in summary.