Are discount airlines discounting Hungary?

While discount airlines are popular in Hungary, with 63% of travelers say they prefer them to the full-service competition, such low-cost carriers seem to believe they don't need to make a serious effort to woo local customers, according to leading Hungarian portal origo.hu.

In a survey of the low-cost options available to Hungarian air travelers, the portal writes that the most "hotly discussed" issue was the recent decision by Ryanair to cut the number of flights it offered, even though the company had earlier promised to expand its schedule.

Meanwhile, WizzAir recently introduced a Ft 225 (€0.9) per minute calling fee for those who use their customer service line. Given that one call can easily last ten minutes, the decision is not likely to win customers' approval, the portal noted, just as such a fee created a great outcry when Ryanair did the same thing in Great Britain.

Fortunately for local discount airline lovers, SkyEurope is returning to the Hungarian market, after earlier deciding to abandon Budapest's Ferihegy Aiport.

But while Sky has restarted at least one route from Hungary - between Budapest and Triest - the portal noted that bargain-hungry Hungarian travelers may want to go to the airline's hubs in Bratislava and Vienna anyway, as tickets for flights from the two airport are getting 50% discounts until June.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle