Reporting on the announcement by China Southern Airlines, one of the world's largest airlines, the minister said that following preliminary negotiations, a new flight will be launched between Guangzhou and Budapest. "The first aircraft is expected to take off on 27 June, with four flights a week between Guangzhou and Budapest," he said. He pointed out that Guangzhou is a metropolis of some 15 million people and the capital of Guangdong Province, known as the factory capital of the eastern world, where companies such as BYD, the world's largest electric car manufacturer, Huawei, one of the world's largest IT companies, and ZTE, Sunwoda and Eve Energy, which are also present in Hungary, have their headquarters and large factories.
"This province accounts for 10 per cent of China's GDP," he pointed out.
"Moreover, there is another significance of the launch of this flight, as from now on there will be seventeen flights a week between Budapest and major Chinese cities, making us the absolute leader in Central Europe,"
he added. So far, two Chinese airlines - Air China, Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines - have operated direct flights between Budapest and four major Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo.
