Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday that the new direct flight between Budapest and Seoul would help strengthen Hungary’s “success story” of cooperation with the South.
Speaking at an event organized by South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air, Szijjártó said the airline plans to operate the new service twice a week before expanding it to three flights a week next summer.
According to the 2022/23 winter timetable and booking system, Korean Air will compete with LOT on this route. The Polish airline currently operates two flights between Seoul and the Hungarian capital on Monday and Wednesday, also using Boeing 787.
The South Korean airline had originally planned to start Budapest flights in summer 2020, but this was delayed until the following spring due to the pandemic, which did not materialize.
Szijjártó also praised the bilateral cooperation, noting that South Korean companies are now the third largest group of investors in Hungary. Bilateral trade reached a record $5 billion last year and grew 20 percent in the first half of this year, he added.
“We have only one opponent in this fight and that is distance, because our two capitals are more than 8,000 kilometers apart, but we can proudly say that today we beat even this opponent,” Scialto said.
The new flights are expected to increase tourist flows between the two countries, he said, noting that so far
This year, more than 22,000 South Korean tourists have spent over 100,000 nights in Hungary, representing a return to pre-pandemic levels.
He noted that South Korea will be the largest foreign investor in Hungary in both 2019 and 2021. According to the minister, it is clear that South Korea’s technologically advanced companies are discovering the opportunities offered by the Hungarian investment environment, which is crucial for Hungary to keep developing. its economic growth.
In addition, Szijjártó said the investments were mainly in the automotive sector, which he said was the backbone of the Hungarian economy. These investments make Hungary a global leader in the “electric revolution” in the automotive industry, he added.
“Our country is a meeting point between German electric vehicle production and Eastern battery production,” says Szijjártó.
The minister said Hungary was sure that a stronger physical link between Hungary and South Korea would allow the two countries to “add another chapter in the success story of economic cooperation”.
Szijjártó also hailed the Hungarian government’s Eastern Opening Strategy as a “success story,” noting that since 2010 Hungary’s overall trade with eastern countries has grown by 49 percent, with exports to the east rising by 45 percent.
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source: MTI
