The first scheduled direct flight from Shenzhen arrived in Budapest on Friday. Hainan Airlines will operate the flight between Budapest and Shenzhen twice a week. Addressing a press conference after the Boeing 787 aircraft landed at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport, Péter Sztáray, state secretary at the foreign ministry, said every event like the launch of the Shenzhen-Budapest flight vindicated Hungary’s eastern opening policy.
Ferenc Antal, deputy state secretary at the national economy ministry and member of the board of directors of Liszt Ferenc International operator Budapest Airport, hailed the developing relations between Hungary and China, saying China was Hungary’s most important partner outside Europe.
Gong Tao, China’s ambassador to Hungary, said the new flight brought the number of weekly flights between the two countries to 21, noting that this was the third launch of a new flight in two months.