Budapest Airport: MALÉV Head Office On-airport

The complete management and headquarters of MALÉV will move to Ferenc Liszt International Airport where three office buildings will be refurbished by the summer of 2012 to accommodate about 600 employees of the national carrier.

The relevant contract was signed by the representatives of Budapest Airport and MALÉV after board approval was granted for the project at both companies. MALÉV chairman Dr. János Berényi fully supports the move aimed at achieving savings and rationalizing operations.

MALÉV can save as much as EUR 1 million, that is, hundreds of millions of HUF per year by moving its management and administration to the airport. The plans foresee that MALÉV will move back into 10 000 square meters of office space in the three-storey buildings between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. These three building used to be occupied by MALÉV earlier, and now only the original reinforced concrete structure and the roof will remain, as Budapest Airport will replace the obsolete external façade as well as building services, heating, the electrical system, the IT infrastructure, plumbing, staircases, and elevators. The cost of refurbishment – designed by Óbuda Építész Stúdió Kft – will be financed by Budapest Airport.

René Droese, Property Management director of Budapest Airport underlined at the time of signing the contract, “We are happy to see the national carrier move its head office to the airport, and we are proud that we can contribute to the more efficient operation of MALÉV. In the course of six months, this is the third significant lease contract signed by Budapest Airport, resulting in the utilization of 30 000 additional square meters combined. It indicates that the area of the airport is increasingly attractive for the market, therefore we continue our work and will implement further property development projects.”

MALÉV CEO Martin Gauss said, “I have considered the implementation of the new head office quite important from the outset, thus it was especially good to see that we managed to sign the relevant contract with the management of the airport a few days ago. It is a major milestone for MALÉV that this large-scale refurbishment project of Budapest Airport makes it possible for the head office of the national carrier to move back to where it truly belongs: the airport. Subsequently, top management, administrative staff, and most colleagues in operations will be working in a single modern center, which will make the operation of Malév much more efficient.”