newstodate.aero

Mar 23, 2021 (newstodate): The Hungarian state seems satisfied with its strategic decision in 2020 to acquire own wide-body freighter capacity.
   On March 18, 2021, the Airbus A330-200F aircraft thus carried 450,000 doses of China's Covid-19 vaccine SinoPharm from Beijing to Budapest Airport, greeted on the arrival by the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto.
   -Hungary is now in a position to procure, transport or produce the equipment needed for the protection efforts in an emergency, Mr Szijjarto said as reported by Hungarian media.
    So far, Hungary has not, however, benefited  much from its acquisition of an ex-Qatar Airways Cargo Airbus A330-200F freighter.
   According to Aerotelegraph, the aircraft had performed only two flights to China by the end of February to pick up PPE and Covid-19 test sets, in addition to the ferry flight bringing the aircraft into Budapest.
   The limited utilization of the aircraft is mainly attributed to the sustained lack of a commercial license to bring the capacity to the market place.
   In September 2020, the Hungarian government decided to invest in the acquisition of own cargo uplift capacity to secure strategic capacity in times of crisis and emergencies, avoiding capacity fluctuations and price instability in stressful times like the current Covid-19 pandemic.
   The government also signed a contract with Wizz Air to take on the operation of the aircraft that is new in the airline's fleet but sharing cross-type commonality with its 131 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, allowing its pilots to qualify for flying the aircraft.