|
|
Malév Boeing 737-700 (HA-LOB) |
Another view of Malév Boeing 737-700 (HA-LOB) |
Malév Hungarian Airlines, a translation of the Hungarian Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, is the national airline of Hungary. The accent indicates that the E is long, so the name is pronounced (approximately) Mol-ayv. Malév's IATA airline code is MA.
History
Malév's origins are somewhat convoluted. Companies like
Aero Rt. (founded 1910), Magyar Æeroforgalmi Rt. (MAEFORT) and
Magyar Légiforgalmi Rt. (Malert) are clearly spiritual
forebears, but the devastation of World War II temporarily ended all
Hungarian civil aviation and these companies along with it. Thus, the official
founding date is March 29, 1946, when the
Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company
(Magyar-Szovjet Légiforgalmi Rt.
aka Maszovlet) was formed. The initial fleet consisted of 21-person
Li-2 passenger aircraft (the Soviet-licensed DC-3)
and 3-person Po-2 "taxis", used for precision air mail: sacks of mail were dropped from the aircraft when flying over the destination! In 1950, Malév's base of operations moved from Budaörs to the newly opened airport at Ferihegy, where it has remained ever since.
On November 25, 1956, Hungary purchased all the Soviet shares of
Maszovlet and Malév was born. Operations gradually expanded, with
flights extending to nearby countries and, following the 1968 purchase
of jet-propelled Tupolev Tu-134s from the Soviet Union, into
all of Europe and the Middle East as well. After the revolution of 1989
and the advent of democracy, Malév started to ditch all its
Soviet-era planes and it now runs a fleet of
18 Boeings, mostly refurbished 737s but
with two 767-200ER's for long-haul flights, and a few Fokker 70s
for short hops.
Present
As of December 2001, Malév flies to 43 cities in
35 countries, with 50 to 60 flights daily.
Malév has not joined any of the large airline alliances, but
has code sharing agreements with KLM, Northwest Airlines, Finnair and
others in the oneworld camp. Malév also has its own
frequent-flyer program entitled Duna Club, "Duna" being the
Hungarian name for the Danube river.
External link
|
