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| Founded | 1946 (as Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | Duna Club | |||
| Alliance | Oneworld | |||
| Fleet size | 22 (+19 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 50 | |||
| Company slogan | Wings to fly | |||
| Parent company | MNV | |||
| Headquarters | Budapest, Hungary | |||
| Key people | Limburger Lóránt (CEO) | |||
| Website | www.malev.com | |||
Malév Hungarian Airlines (Hungarian: Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, abbreviated Malév) is the flag carrier and principal airline of Hungary. It has its head office in the Lurdy House in Budapest, with its main operations at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. From there, the airline flies to 50 cities in 34 countries worldwide using a fleet of 22 aircraft. Malév is a member of the Oneworld alliance, having joined 29 March 2007.[1] Malév - the accent indicates that the E is long, and the first syllable is always stressed in Hungarian, so the name is pronounced MAH-lev. The company's logo was designed by László Zsótér in 1989.
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Companies like Aero Rt. (founded 1910), Magyar Æeroforgalmi Rt. (MAEFORT) and Magyar Légiforgalmi Rt. (Malert) were spiritual forebears, but the devastation of World War II temporarily suspended all Hungarian civil aviation and these companies with it. The company's official founding date was 29 March 1946, when the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company (Magyar-Szovjet Légiforgalmi Rt. also known as Maszovlet) was formed. The initial fleet consisted of 21-seat Li-2 passenger aircraft (the Soviet-licensed DC-3) and 3-seat Po-2 "taxis", used for precision air mail: sacks of mail were dropped from the aircraft when flying over its destination. In 1950, Malév's operating base moved from Budaörs to the newly opened airport at Ferihegy, where it has remained.
On 25 November 1956, Hungary acquired all the Soviet shares of Maszovlet, and Malév was born. Operations expanded, with flights extending to nearby countries and, following the 1968 purchase of jet-powered Tupolev Tu-134s from the Soviet Union, across Europe and the Middle East. Even before the political changes of 1989 and the arrival of democracy, Malév had begun phasing out its Soviet-era planes with the introduction of the first western aircraft, a Boeing 737-200 on 18 November 1988.
The last Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft was withdrawn from service in 2001. In 2003, Malév began replacing its Boeing 737 Classic aircraft with 737 Next-Generation planes. It now runs a fleet of 18 Boeing 737 Next Generations, as well as 4 Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400s for short-haul routes.[2]
From 1999 to 2007, the Hungarian state property agency ÁPV Rt. (Állami Privatizációs és Vagyonkezelő Rt.) owned 99.5% of Malév shares. The other 0.5% were in the hands of small shareholders. ÁPV Rt repeatedly tried to privatise Malév, finally selling it to AirBridge Zrt, one of whose stockholders was Boris Abramovich who backed KrasAir and AiRUnion.
AirBridge acquired 99.9% of the airline in February 2007. It had 1,785 staff members, as of 31 December 2007.[3]
Despite Czech Airlines' offer to sponsor Malév as an associate member of the SkyTeam alliance, and Malév's codeshare agreements with several SkyTeam carriers, Malév joined Oneworld as a fully-fledged member on 29 March 2007.
On 12 July 2007 Lloyd Paxton was appointed CEO of Malév. Paxton replaced János Gönci, who will remain on the board of directors as an adviser. Mr Paxton was with British Airways for over 35 years and most recently was with Air Astana. Mr Paxton was the first Malév CEO to come from the airline industry. Two months later, on 14 September 2007, Lloyd Paxton resigned as CEO of Malév, replaced by Péter Leonov.[4] From January 2009, the present chairman is Ballo Anatoly Borisovich.[5]
On 18 March 2009 the Russian state-owned Vneshekonombank took a minority stake of 49% in AirBridge Zrt which holds the shares of the struggling airline. The bank owed it Ft8,100 (Ft8,100 (€30))m from a loan taken out last autumn. The majority, 51%, remained in Hungarian ownership. The managing control would be taken by Russia's Aeroflot - Russian Airlines. Martin Gauss, former CEO of DBA and Cirrus Airlines as well as a Boeing 737 pilot was elected as CEO on 15 April 2009.[6]
The airline was renationalized in February 2010, with Hungarian Government state holding company MNV acquiring a 95 per cent stake in the airline. The remaining 5 per cent remained with AirBridge.[7] In December 2010, the European Commission began an investigation into illegal government subsidies of Malév.[8]
Malév's head office is located inside the Lurdy House (Lurdy Ház) in Budapest.[9][10] Lurdy Ház, an office and shopping complex, opened in the northern hemisphere autumn of 1998.[11] Previously the airline head office was located in another area in Budapest.[12][13]
The airline has signed a lease agreement in the spring of 2011 with Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport agreeing to relocate its headquarters to the airport grounds by the end of 2012. The airline will be based in renovated 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft) of space in three office buildings between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, where 600 employees will be accommodated.[14]
Malév Hungarian Airlines' flight network of 50 destinations covers much of Europe and the Middle East. In the past, flights went to Africa and Southeast Asia, but have now been terminated. On 12 September 2011 Malév announced plans to fly to Tripoli; this will be Malév's only scheduled African destination. Apart from scheduled services, the airline also flies to charter destinations.
On 29 October 2007, Malév announced the suspension of its trans-Atlantic routes for the winter season. Services on the Budapest-Toronto and Budapest-New York-JFK routes were suspended in mid-November. Passenger loads on these routes are considerably lower in winter, making them uneconomical to operate.[15] Then, on 23 July 2008, Malév announced the cancellation of the New York and Toronto flights. Malév operated flights to Toronto and New York since the early 1990s but the recent increases in operational costs, especially fuel costs, made the flights unprofitable. Malév has no plans to reinstate its trans-Atlantic flights but will instead focus on expanding its European network.[5]
Skytrax Best Airline of the year Award for Eastern Europe - 2010.[16]
Prague Airport Quietest plane award - 2010.[16]
Annual Business Gala Award:
Best developing Airline - 2010
Best Marketing Staregy Award - 2010 .[16]
ETB Award "most trusted brand for the environment".[16]
Malév Hungarian Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines, beside Oneworld members:
The Malév Hungarian Airlines fleet consists the following aircraft with an average age of 7.1 years (at November 2010):[17][18][19]
| Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Options | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | |||||
| Boeing 737-600 | 6 | — | — | 19 | 90 | 109 | |
| Boeing 737-700 | 7 | — | — | 19 | 102 | 121 | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 5 | — | — | 34 — |
126 180 |
160 180 |
HA-LOU painted in Oneworld livery |
| Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — | 72 | 72 | HA-LQD wears retro-scheme colors |
| Sukhoi Superjet 100 | 0 | 15 | 15 |
|
98 | Deliveries TBA (originally expected 2011) | |
| Total: | 22 | 19 | 19 | ||||
Services are operated for the airline by Budapest Aircraft Service, primarily using 30-seat Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia to regional destinations.
Malév leased the first of three Boeing 767-300ERs in early 2007, with the intention of adding one aircraft per year, and the last joining the fleet in 2009. These aircraft would have replaced the two Boeing 767-200ERs in Malév's fleet.
At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2008, Malév signed a contract with Canada's Bombardier for the delivery of eight Q400 turboprop aircraft with an option for a further four at a cost of Ft61,330 (Ft61,330 (€226))m to replace the regional CRJ-200 and Fokker 70 fleet.[20]
Malév returned its leased Boeing 767-300ER (HA-LHC) to ILFC by October 2008. Airline S7 of Russia will then lease this former KLM Boeing 767 for a 6-year period. The fate of Malév's other Boeing 767, a –200ER is unknown but it will most likely be sold.[21]
On 15 June 2009, SuperJet International and Malév Hungarian Airlines signed a letter of intent for the purchase of 30 Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 aircraft. The first aircraft, in a two-class configuration, will join the Malév fleet from 2011 with the delivery of six aircraft per year.[22]