Malev to Eliminate Flights to North America
July 23 2008 09:39 am
This won’t affect many of you, but Malev (Hungary’s flag carrier) announced that it will focus entirely on Europe and eliminate flights to New York and Toronto this fall. The carrier noted that its 767 trans-Atlantic flights cost $49,000 more to operate now compared to last year (with about 200 seats on the flight, they’d have to make up $250 per passenger just to break even. Good luck with that.)
charlie on 23 Jul 2008 at 11:29 am #
actually, my economy tickets to western europe are running about $200 more than last year, so I’d argue that they are able to pass the price on to consumers. Perhaps this is more about Delta and Continental moving into their markets and not being able to compete for US traffic with those carriers….
onlinetravelreview on 23 Jul 2008 at 12:24 pm #
They can pass some of the price on, but not all of it. And remember, we haven’t gotten to the slow period. And in my very arbitrary estimate, the planes are full - that is not the case, especially during the slower periods. So if they’re flying at 70% load factors, you’re looking at $300. Each way. They won’t make that up.
iahphx on 23 Jul 2008 at 12:28 pm #
Well, obviously, fuel prices have to fall or capacity has to be reduced in all markets. At the moment, it looks like both are happening!
FWIW, Budapest is one of Eastern Europe’s largest cities, so I would think the market could support some nonstop service to NYC.