"The Malév winter timetable has been finalized and published in the reservations systems. In line with earlier decisions, the airline is focusing its resources on Europe, placing emphasis on providing reliable connections between the continent’s regions fine-tuned to meet travel demands. All the traditional winter destinations will continue to be accessible with Malév aircraft, while both the timetable and available capacity will be even better adjusted to the requirements of the travelling public and typical travel patterns. Thus the frequencies and capacity of certain routes have been increased compared to last year’s winter timetable, whereas others are reduced or made more practical.
The winter season also witnesses the inauguration in the Malév fleet of a new aircraft type: the quiet, low consumption, environmentally friendly Q400, which will be covering routes with flight times of between 1-1.5 hours.
In comparison with the previous year, Malév is upping the number of flights in its winter timetable by a total 2%, whereas seating capacity is being reduced by approximately 6% in the low travel season. Naturally, the three 72-seater and one 76-seater Q400 turboprops entering into service on a continuous basis from the end of October have considerably less capacity than the two B767s being withdrawn from the fleet and the five B737s that Malév will not be operating during the winter.
The closure of long-haul flights means that only Bangkok does not appear in the 2008-09 winter timetable since the airline did not fly its North American routes during the winter timetable period last year. Given their specific seasonality, typical holiday destinations such as Malaga and Split are once again removed from the network this winter.
The Malév winter timetable coming into effect on 26 October 2008 is fine-tuned to the travel demands of the colder season and increasing traffic on regional routes. Compared to last winter the airline is adding an extra two flights a week to Stockholm, bringing the total up to nine a week, of which two are morning and two afternoon flights, the other five flying at night.
The amended timetable and capacity as well as additional frequencies are beneficial for Southeast Europe transfer and point-to-point passengers. During the summer Malév registered a considerable increase in the number of passengers on this route, which is why it is placing particular emphasis on this Scandinavian destination in the winter, too.
The airline has restructured its Göteborg timetable to make it more flexible; of the six flights every week three operate in the morning and three in the evening. This makes travel arrangements far more practical because Malév customers will be able to save valuable time with a morning arrival and evening departure. What is more, the new timetable opens up numerous new connection options for East and South Europe travellers.
The airline is retaining the Milan and Cluj-Napoca flights successfully inaugurated this summer. This means that Malév will fly to the north Italian city twice a day, thereby guaranteeing a fixed air connection between the capital of the most populous region in Italy, Lombardy, and Budapest.
Throughout the winter the Hungarian airline will maintain its daily two flights to Cluj-Napoca, which launched in the early summer and has since proved an extremely popular route. Malév planes will also be flying twice a day to such regional hubs in Germany and Italy as Stuttgart and Venice, since there is steady demand for Malév services on both routes.
Malév operations continue to be based on multiple daily scheduled waves. Flights from destinations in the Middle East and Southeast, East Europe arrive in Budapest in the early morning, where transit travellers have quick and convenient connections onto morning flights to cities in West and North Europe. Aircraft return from the west and north regions of Europe around noon and then depart for countries of the east and southeast region.
This process is repeated in the course of the afternoon and evening. Around one-third of Malév passengers are transit travellers, which is why providing rapid and easy connections is particularly important for the company. In addition to its European destinations the airline also devotes considerable attention to its Middle Eastern routes where the proportion of transit travellers is considerable.
Over the course of the winter schedule period Malév operates an average weekly 441, daily 63 scheduled services. At this time the national carrier links the Hungarian capital with 47 cities in 33 countries, and together with its code-share partners 66 cities in 36 countries. Aircraft make the most daily flights, five in all, to Amsterdam.
Malév customers can access 700 destinations in 150 countries flying with member airlines of the oneworld alliance. These member airlines operate according to a carefully integrated timetable and accept e-tickets across the entire network, while frequent flyers can accrue and use Bonus Points on all oneworld routes. Malév Duna Club Gold cardholders are entitled to use the services of around 550 airport business lounges globally."
Source: Malév Hungarian AIrlines
15.09.2008