More than a million aircraft were managed by HungaroControl in 2019
Budapest, January 13 2020 – In 2019, the air traffic controllers of HungaroControl were responsible for safely managing more than one million flights; the most notable growth occurred in Kosovo’s upper airspace where controllers managed 23 percent more flights than the previous year. Charged with managing air traffic in Hungary, we did not only set a record in service volume, but also in financial performance. Preliminary data reveals a projected annual revenue of HUF 37 billion for 2019.
Likewise during the year, Hungarian air traffic controllers safely managed the transit of nearly 758,000 overflights across Hungarian airspace, while the Liszt Ferenc International Airport's movements increased by 6.5 percent, reaching nearly 122,000 flights. The number of aircraft operated by flight information service was slightly above 65,000 last year, representing an increase of more than 9 percent compared to 2018 results. The most notable growth occurred in Kosovo’s upper airspace where controllers managed 142,500 movements, which is 23 percent more flights than the previous year.
Through our business activities, HungaroControl has made a significant contribution to socio-economic growth, especially in facilitating business, trade and tourism in the Hungarian economy. In terms of financial performance, 2019 was characterised by stability - preliminary annual revenue is estimated to be HUF 37 billion, investment performance is expected to reach HUF 5.5 billion and pre-tax profit is expected to exceed HUF 2.5 billion.
In addition to maintaining safety primacy in air traffic management, we also delivered outstanding results in our research & development and innovation activities. A marked example of this was the successful activation of South East Europe Free Route Airspace on 07 November 2019. SEE FRA facilitates the use of free route airspace across Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Following its introduction, SEE FRA has the potential to reduce overflight tracks by 20,000 kilometres, saving 70 tonnes of fuel, 2020 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 23 hours in flight time per day.
HungaroControl’s highest priority is to ensure safety in air traffic management by coupling the expertise of our air traffic controllers and state-of-the-art technology solutions.