(Hungary) Malév @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Tupolev Tu-134A Tupolev Tu-134A
    Tupolev Tu-134A
  • Yakovlev Yak-40 Yakovlev Yak-40
    Yakovlev Yak-40
  • Lissunow Li-2 (2009) Lissunow Li-2 (2009)
    Lissunow Li-2 (2009)
  • Tupolev 154 (Zurich 1995) Tupolev 154 (Zurich 1995)
    Tupolev 154 (Zurich 1995)
  • Ilyushin Il-14T Ilyushin Il-14T
    Ilyushin Il-14T
  • Fokker 70 Fokker 70
    Fokker 70
  • Ilyushin Il-18 Ilyushin Il-18
    Ilyushin Il-18
  • Tu-154B-2 Tu-154B-2
    Tu-154B-2
  • Yak-40K Yak-40K
    Yak-40K
  • Canadair CRJ-200 (2007) Canadair CRJ-200 (2007)
    Canadair CRJ-200 (2007)
  • Tu-154 (Frankfurt 1977) Tu-154 (Frankfurt 1977)
    Tu-154 (Frankfurt 1977)
  • Boeing 763 Boeing 763
    Boeing 763
  • Il-18 Il-18
    Il-18
  • Fokker 70 Fokker 70
    Fokker 70
  • de Havilland Canada Dash-8-402Q de Havilland Canada Dash-8-402Q
    de Havilland Canada Dash-8-402Q
  • Boeing 737-600 (2007) Boeing 737-600 (2007)
    Boeing 737-600 (2007)
  • Ilyushin Il-14 Ilyushin Il-14
    Ilyushin Il-14
  • European<br>destinations European<br>destinations
    European
    destinations
  • Ilyushin Il-18 (LHR 1965) Ilyushin Il-18 (LHR 1965)
    Ilyushin Il-18 (LHR 1965)

Malév Hungarian Airlines

MALÉV Ltd. (Hungarian: Malév Zrt.), which did business as MALÉV Hungarian Airlines (Hungarian: Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, abbreviated MALÉV, was the flag carrier and principal airline of Hungary between 1946 and 2012. It had its head office in Budapest, with its main operations at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport. From there, the airline flew to 50 cities in 34 countries worldwide using a fleet of 22 aircraft. In its final years, Malév was a member of the Oneworld alliance, having joined 29 March 2007. On 3 February 2012, Malév stopped flying and on 14 February 2012 was declared insolvent and ordered liquidated by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest.

Beginnings

Hungarian civil aviation was pioneered by airlines such as Aero Rt. (founded 1910), Magyar Æeroforgalmi Rt. (Maefort) and Magyar Légiforgalmi Rt. (MALéRT). The widespread devastation of World War II forced these airlines to suspend airline service in 1940-44, and they were ultimately replaced by Maszovlet as the national airline after the war. Maszovlet was founded on 29 March 1946, as the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company (Magyar-Szovjet Polgári Légiforgalmi Rt. also known as MASZOVLET). A merge between Malert, Maefort and the Hungarian part of Aeroflot.

The initial fleet consisted of 21-seat Li-2 passenger aircraft (the Soviet-licensed DC-3) and 3-seat Po-2 "taxis", used for precision air mail: sacks of mail were dropped from the aircraft when flying over its destination. In 1950, Malév's operating base moved from Budaörs to the newly opened airport at Ferihegy, where it remained.

On 25 November 1954, Hungary acquired all the Soviet shares of MASZOVLET, and renamed the company, MALÉV was born. Ilyushin Il-14 twin piston-engined transport aircraft were acquired in the late 1950s. Operations were expanded, with flights extending to nearby countries and, following the 1965 acquisition of Ilyushin Il-18 turbine propellor airliners, and the subsequent 1968 purchase of jet-powered Tupolev Tu-134s from the Soviet Union, across Europe and the Middle East.

Even before the political changes of 1989 and the arrival of democracy, Malév had begun phasing out its Soviet-era planes with the introduction of the airline's first Western-designed aircraft, a Boeing 737-200 on 18 November 1988. With that, Malév was the first among the airlines in the then-communist countries of Central Europe to operate a Western-built aircraft (LOT - Polish Airlines was the second with its Boeing 767-300 aircraft launched in April 1989).

The company's logo which turned out to be the last one, was designed by graphic designer László Zsótér (DLA) in 1986 and consecutively adopted during the following years.

1990s-2007: Modernisation

The last Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft was withdrawn from service in 2001. In 2003, MALÉV began replacing its Boeing 737 Classic aircraft with 737 Next-Generation planes. It then ran a fleet of 18 Boeing 737 Next Generations, as well as 4 Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400s for short-haul routes.

From 1999 to 2007, the Hungarian State Privatization Company ÁPV Plc. (Állami Privatizációs és Vagyonkezelő Rt.) owned 99.5% of Malév shares. The other 0.5% were in the hands of small shareholders. ÁPV Plc. repeatedly tried to privatise Malév, finally selling it to AirBridge Zrt.

2007-2011: In private hands

AirBridge acquired 99.9% of the airline in February 2007. It had 1,785 staff members, as of 31 December 2007.

Despite Czech Airlines' offer to sponsor Malév as an associate member of the SkyTeam alliance, and MALÉV's codeshare agreements with several SkyTeam carriers, Malév joined Oneworld on 29 March 2007.

On 12 July 2007 Lloyd Paxton was appointed CEO of MALÉV. Paxton replaced János Gönci, who remained on the board of directors as an adviser. Mr Paxton had been with British Airways for over 35 years and more recently with Air Astana. Mr Paxton was the first MALÉV CEO to come from the airline industry. Two months later, on 14 September 2007, Lloyd Paxton resigned as CEO of MALÉV, replaced by Péter Leonov. In January 2009, Ballo Anatoly Borisovich became the chairman.

On 18 March 2009 the Russian state-owned Vneshekonombank took a minority stake of 49% in AirBridge Zrt which held the shares of the struggling airline. The majority, 51%, remained in Hungarian ownership. The managing control would be taken by Russia's Aeroflot - Russian Airlines. Martin Gauss, former CEO of DBA and Cirrus Airlines as well as a Boeing 737 pilot was elected as CEO on 15 April 2009. During the management of Martin Gauss, MALÉV reached a load factor above industry average among "traditional" airlines, comparable of that of low cost airlines. One of the reasons of the departure of Martin Gauss as CEO of MALÉV was the benefit ceiling established by the newly elected government, led by Orban Viktor, in 2010, where a ceiling of €8000 gross salary (approx €5000 net) was set for all managers, governing state owned companies.

The airline was renationalised in February 2010, with Hungarian Government state holding company MNV acquiring a 95 per cent stake in the airline. The remaining 5 per cent remained with AirBridge. In December 2010, the European Commission began an investigation into illegal government subsidies of Malév.

2012: Financial collapse and cessation of operations

On 9 January 2012, the European Union considered the state aid received by MALÉV illegal and ordered Hungary to recover from the company. The European Commission ordered MALÉV to repay various forms of state aid received from 2007 to 2010, totalling 38 billion forints (€130 m; $171 m), a sum equal to its entire 2010 revenue. At the end of January 2012, MALÉV announced that it could no longer fund its own operations, and requested more subsidies from the Hungarian government. After having two planes seized at foreign airports by creditors, MALÉV immediately ceased all flight activity on 3 February 2012, after 66 years of continuous operation. The airline's total debts were 60 billion forints (US$270.5 million) at the time of shutdown. The shutdown occurred at 6 AM Western European Time on 3 February 2012. On 14 February 2012, the Metropolitan Court of Budapest declared MALÉV Ltd. insolvent. Hitelintézeti Felszámoló Nonprofit Kft. (Credit Institutional Liquidator Nonprofit Ltd.) received the appointment as the liquidator of MALÉV Ltd.

Corporate affairs

Before its closure, the airline had 2,600 employees and had almost half of all of the air traffic at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. In 2011 about 40% of the revenues at Budapest airport originated from Malév operations, and during that year the airline served 3.2 million passengers.

Head office

MALÉV's head office was located inside the Lurdy House (Lurdy Ház) in Budapest, an office and shopping complex that opened in 1998. Previously the airline head office was located elsewhere in Budapest. In the 1960s and 1970s it was in V. Vörösmarty-tér 5, and in the 1990s it was in Roosevelt tér 2. The airline signed a lease agreement in the spring of 2011 with Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport agreeing to relocate its headquarters to three office buildings between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 in the airport by the summer of 2012, but these plans were cancelled due to the shutdown.

Ownership

The airline was privatised in the 1990s. In December 1993, ÁPV Plc. sold 40,316 "A" series shares to the airline's employees. In 1998 ÁPV Plc. held 64.089% of the company (4,929,954 shares), Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane held 30% (2,307,693 shares), Simest held 5% (384,615 shares), private entities held .333% (25,577 shares), and several local governments held the rest of the company. Local governments with stakes in Malév were Agárd, Balatonlelle, Budapest, Debrecen, Budapest District 5, and Budapest District 18.

In 2007 the Russian brothers Alexander and Boris Abramovich acquired 49% of AirBridge Zrt as part of a privatisation program of the Hungarian government. After the AiRUnion alliance of the Abramovich brothers went bankrupt in 2009, Vnesheconombank took over the Abramovich stake.

The government of Hungary re-nationalized the airline on 26 February 2010, after Malev experienced changes in ownership and financial difficulties. The government held 95% of the airline while AirBridge Zrt held 5%. AirBridge Zrt was 51% owned by Kálmán Kiss and Magdolna Költő, two Hungarian individuals, and 49% owned by Boris Abramovich. Prior to 26 February 2010, AirBridge Zrt held 99.95% of Malév and minor shareholders held .05%.

Destinations

MALÉV Hungarian Airlines offered scheduled services to about fifty destinations in Europe and the Middle East; charter flights were also flown. Flights to Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America had been terminated. Services on the Budapest-Toronto and Budapest-New York-JFK routes were suspended in mid-November, 2007. Then, on 23 July 2008, MALÉV announced the cancellation of the New York and Toronto flights; these had been operated since the early 1990s.

Prior to the shutdown, five of MALÉV's destinations (Cluj-Napoca, Odessa, Podgorica, Sarajevo, and Târgu Mureș) were not served by any other Oneworld members.

Incidents and accidents

  • 1 November 1949 : A MASZOVLET Lisunov Li-2P (HA-LIK) struck Jakab mountain while approaching Pogany Airport, killing six of seven on board.
  • 1949 : The crew of a MASZOVLET Lisunov Li-2P (HA-LIE) fled Hungary and landed at Riem Airport in Munich, Germany; there were no casualties.
  • 2 October 1952 : A MASZOVLET Lisunov Li-2P (HA-LIL) struck a building after landing at Nyíregyháza Airport, killing three.
  • 23 December 1954 : A MASZOVLET Lisunov Li-2P (HA-LIF) force-landed near Polná, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) due to icing; while landing, the left landing gear collapsed; all 33 on board survived (one person was injured), but the aircraft was written off. On the same day another Maszovlet Li-2P (HA-LII) belly-landed near Bratronov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) due to icing; all 19 on board survived, but the aircraft was also written off.
  • 13 July 1956 : MALÉV Lisunov Li-2T (HA-LIG) was hijacked by seven people who demanded to be taken to West Germany; the aircraft landed safely at Ingolstadt Air Base with no casualties to the 20 passengers and crew on board.
  • 13 October 1956 : MALÉV Lisunov Li-2 (HA-LID) was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Szombathely Airport by four armed men who wanted to be flown to the West; of the 19 on board, one died and two were injured.
  • 6 August 1961 : MALÉV Douglas C-47A (HA-TSA) crashed in a residential area in Budapest while on a sightseeing flight due to crew negligence and loss of control, killing all 27 on board and another three on the ground.
  • 23 November 1962 : MALÉV Airlines Flight 355, an Ilyushin Il-18V (HA-MOD), crashed at Le Bourget Airport, probably as the result of a stall; all 21 on board died.
  • 17 February 1964 : MALÉV Ilyushin Il-14P HA-MAH was burnt out in a hangar fire at Ferihegy Airport.
  • 19 November 1969 : MALÉV Tupolev Tu-134 (HA-LBA), overran the runway on landing at Atatürk Airport, collapsing the landing gear and injuring the navigator (in the nose); there were no other casualties, but the aircraft was written off.
  • 28 August 1971 : MALÉV Airlines Flight 731, an Ilyushin Il-18V (HA-MOC), crashed into the sea on approach to Copenhagen Airport, killing 32; 2 survived.
  • 16 September 1971 : MALÉV Airlines Flight 110, operated by Tupolev Tu-134 HA-LBD, crashed near Boryspil International Airport, Kiev in bad weather, following two missed approaches, after a generator failure caused the crew to switch to batteries; all 49 on board died.
  • 15 January 1975 : MALÉV Flight 801 ooperated by Ilyushin Il-18V HA-MOH, was being ferried from East Berlin to Budapest when it crashed on approach to Ferihegy Airport due to weather, poor visibility, poor CRM and possible spatial disorientation, killing the nine crew.
  • 30 September 1975 : MALÉV Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft on the Budapest to Beirut route crashed near the Lebanese shoreline. See Malév Flight 240.
  • 21 September 1977 : MALÉV Airlines Flight 203, a Tupolev Tu-134 (HA-LBC), flying from Istanbul to Budapest with an intermediate stop at Bucharest struck level ground on approach, probably as a result of flying at reduced power, unnoticed by the crew. Of the 53 on board, 29 died.
  • 29 March 1989 : Two teenagers from Czechoslovakia armed with grenades and shotguns hijacked Flight 640 at Prague Ruzyně Airport, and flew the Tupolev Tu-154B with 15 hostages to Frankfurt Airport before surrendering.
  • 4 July 2000 : MALÉV Flight 262, a chartered MALÉV Tu-154 HA-LCR, landed on its belly at Thessaloniki Airport in Greece. The crew had not successfully lowered the landing gear and the aircraft skidded 400 metres (440 yards) on the runway. The aircraft was able to become airborne again as the pilots applied full throttle. It circled until the crew managed to lower the landing gear and landed safely. There were no injuries, but the aircraft was written off.
  • 13 February 2009 : MALÉV Flight 440 from Budapest made an emergency landing at its destination Skopje Airport in the Republic of Macedonia. At 16:05 the pilot reported right engine failure of the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 whilst on final approach. The pilot safely landed the airplane and there were no injuries to the 64 passengers. The General Manager of Skopje Airport confirmed the incident.
  • 25 June 2011 : MALÉV Airlines Flight 906, operated by Boeing 737-800 HA-LOC, from Budapest to Heraklion International Airport, suffered a tail strike during landing. None of the 180 passengers and 7 crew were hurt but the aircraft was seriously damaged. The incident was later attributed to pilot error.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Malév Hungarian Airlines of Wikipedia ( authors )
Malév Hungarian Airlines : Your comments on this subject
Powered by Disqus
Top
Legal Credits FAQ Help Site Map

Terms of use for the services available on this site

By using this Website, Users agree to the following terms of use and rules :

Definitions

  • Webmaster : Head Administrator with all authority over the management and development of the Website.
  • Administrator : Anyone that was given by the Webmaster full or partial access to the Website's structure or with moderation rights on messages posted by Users.
  • User or Visitor : Any person visiting the Website pages.
  • Website : The following provisions apply to a single Website accessible via the www.aircraftube.com, www.aircraftube.org, www.aircraftube.net and www.all-aircraft.com. URL's
  • Service : All free informations and tools contained on the Website.
  • Comments : All text written by users on Blogs and comment pages available on the Website.
  • Media : All media available on or through the Website. One must distinguish the local media (photos, curves, drawings) and the external media (videos) which the Website refers.

    • Purpose of this site

    The purpose of this non-commercial site is purely educational. Reflecting a passion, it is also there to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives, their health or energy in the name of freedom, aviation safety or simply our passenger comfort.

    Copyright

    Some media may have escaped the vigilance of Administrators with regard to copyrights. If a user reports copyright infringement, he will be asked to prove that he is indeed the rights's owner for the concerned media. If so, his decision on the Administrator's next action will be respected: A total suppression of the Media on the Website, or the addition of some owner's reference. The publication of a media on the internet normally having as a goal to make it visible to many people, the Administrators expect in any case that the second option will be most often chosen.

    Pursuant to the Law on copyright and related rights, the user has the right to download and reproduce information on the Website for personal use and provided that the source is mentionned. They cannot however be used for commercial or advertising purposes.

    Using Blogs and filing comments

  • Moderator : The Administrator reserves the right to prevent the publication of comments that are not directly related to the Service without providing any explanation. Similarly, all insults, out of scope or unethical material will be banned.
  • Identification : Persons wishing to post a comment or use any form of contact are required to provide identification by the means of a valid e-mail address.
  • Responsibilities : Comments are posted on the Website under the unique responsability of their authors and the Administrators may in no case be liable for any statements or claims that the users might have issued.

    • As the comment system is hosted and maintained on servers external to the Website, the Administrators may in no circumstances be held responsible for the use that administrators of these servers or other third parties may have with those comments or filed data.

    Content Liability

    The Administrators carefully check the reliability of the sources used. They cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy of any information contained on the Website, partly because of the multiple sources from which they come.

    JavaScript and cookies - Storing information

    This Website imperatively uses JavaScript and cookies to function properly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Website for the retention or disclosure of personal information about Visitors. Exceptions to this rule will involve storing the Users banned for inappropriate comments they might have given as well as contact information for Users wishing to subscribe to future newsletters.

    When a user accesses the Website, the corresponding servers may automatically collect certain data, such as IP address, date and time of Website access, viewed pages and the type of browser used. This information is kept only for the purpose of measuring the number of visitors to the different sections of the site and make improvements.

    Donations - Advertising

    To continue providing the Service for free, the Webmaster reserves the right to insert advertising or promotional messages on any page of the Site. In the same idea, any donations will only by used to cover the running costs of the site, such as hosting, connection fees, hardware and software necessary for the development and maintenance of the Website.

    Links and other websites

    Administrators shall in no case be liable for the non-availability of websites operated by third parties to which users would access through the Website.

    Administrators assume no liability for any content, advertising, products and/or services available on such third party websites. It is reminded that those sites are governed by their own terms of use.

    Placing a link to third party sites or authorize a third party to include a link on their website refering to this Website does not mean that the Administrators recommend in any way the products or services offered by these websites.

    Modifications

    The Webmaster reserves the right to modify at any time without notification the present terms of use as well as all content or specific functionality that the Website offers.

    The modified terms and conditions immediately apply to the using Visitor when changes come online. Visitors are invited to consult the site regularly on the most current version of the terms and conditions

    Governing Law and Jurisdiction

    These general conditions are governed by Belgian law.

    In case of dispute regarding the interpretation and/or execution of the above terms, the parties agree that the courts of the district of Nivelles, Belgium shall have exclusive jurisdiction power.

    Credits page

    Wikipedia.org

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia.

    Youtube

    YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos.

    Special thanks to all Youtube quality aviation vids providers, specially (Those I forgot, please excuse me or report) :

    Airboyd
    Andys Video
    Aviation videos archives
    Bomberguy
    Classic Aviation TV
    Historical Aviation Film Unit
    Horsemoney
    Jaglavaksoldier
    Joluqa Malta
    Just Planes
    Koksy
    Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture
    Memorial Flight
    Octane130
    Okrajoe
    SDASM archives
    Spottydog4477
    The Aviators TV
    Valentin Izagirre Bengoetxea
    Vexed123
    VonBerlich
    Zenos Warbirds

    Bundesarchiv

    The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany.

    FAQ

    I don't see my comments any more!

    Please note that each page has it's own comment entry. So, if you enter a comment i.e. on the B-747, you will only see it on that related page.

    General comments are accessed via the "BLOG En" button.

    Comments are moderated, so please allow some delay before they appear, specially if you are outside Europe.

    Menus are developing below the page, because they are too long!

    But they remain accessible, for example by scrolling the mouse wheel, or with your finger (on the menu) on a smartphone or tablet.

    I see adds on all videos.

    Use a good free add remover software.

    The site is loading random pages at startup.

    We think it is a good way to bring back the memory of aircraft, persons or events sometimes quite forgotten.

    HELP PAGE

    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).