Malev Hungarian airline on verge of bankruptcy

[Carolinian]

Hungary's flag carrier, Malev airline, is teetering on the edge of bankrupcy and could cease operations within days. It is a One World Alliance airline and partner with AA. An EU ruling a few weeks ago prohibits any government aid to save it, although negotiations with a Czech investor are still ongoing to buy it.

 

[Carolinian]

Update: Malev ceased operations this morning. It has not filed for bankruptcy and efforts to sell it continue.

The biggest financial nail in its coffin was a recent order by the European Commission that it had to repay millions of dollars in ''state aid''. As a former Malev passenger who enjoyed connecting through Budapest, all I can say is ''thanks a lot heck of a lot, European Commission!'' Since any buyer would be subject to that order, I suspect that what would be sold would be the assets of the airline, rather than the airline as a going concern. A new airline would have to be created, which would not then be a member of any mile earning alliance, like Malev was with One World (AA, BA, etc). I also expect to see LCC's move in to try to pick up market share, especially WizzAir.

 

[Carolinian]

Looks like they are history. Malev returned 9 of its planes today.

WizzAir, which has a major presence at Budapest, has made a bid for Malev's routes but not its assets, and is already projecting a 66% expansion there this year. They are also making a ''rescue'' offer for stranded Malev passengers: http://wizzair.com/malev/

 

[ada903]

I used to fly them when I lived in Europe - I studied in Budapest for a year. Too bad, it was a decent company.