Julian Moxon/Budapest
Hungary, today, is often cited as a shining example of how a former communist-controlled East European country has rapidly adapted to Western European ways.
The aviation sector has been no exception. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country was faced with a clear need for change, especially in air traffic control (ATC). If Hungary, located at the heart of central Europe, was to cope with the rapid growth of traffic in the region, then it needed to re-organise. It also needed the right people to push through change and overcome the entrenched thinking of an old-style command economy.
Tamas Erdei is one such person. A 39 years-veteran of Hungary's airport system, he is now general director of the air traffic and airport administration (LRI), and is often called the "Grand Master" behind the reformation of the national air traffic network.
Erdei brought a combination of quiet diplomacy, toughness and administrative know-how to push through a wide range of changes, such as making airports and the ATC system self-financing. Today, the LRI has control of market-related tasks which were previously held by Hungarian flag carrier Malev. "The monopoly has been broken-now we have the right to earn money, even though the organisation is still owned by the state. We have become self-supporting," says Erdei.
The long-awaited construction of the new terminal 2B at Budapest's Ferihegy Airport is also under way, with completion expected in September 1998. Erdei says that the terminal will operate without the constraints which result from Malev's traditional monopoly over the provision of services at terminal 2.
"They will be forced to meet the competition head-on-and I believe that will be a good thing for airport users," he adds.
Erdei holds out the prospect that the airport may become a regional hub. "Since the political changes, there are no restrictions to our development - I believe the new terminal will be perfectly adapted for passenger transfer."
The go-ahead for terminal 2B was conditional on there being no government funding, remembers Erdei. "So we issued a call for tenders based on a turnkey-type contract in which the winner would become part of a joint-venture concern responsible for raising the necessary funds and operating the terminal," he says. The Canadian Airport Development Corporation won the tender, and holds 34% in a profit-sharing joint venture (the LRI holds the rest) which will see the money paid back in 12 years.
Passenger throughput is now 3.3 million a year, and is forecast to rise to 5.5 million in a few years. "That is actually a pessimistic estimate - the last four years the average growth has been 14.2%, and for the last three months has been 12% more than for the same period last year. That means that if it continues at this rate we will be saturated by 2002," Erdai says.
Hungary was an early disciple of Eurocontrol, Western Europe's ATC body, which has been leading a programme to modernise the emerging eastern states. Hungary became the first former East-European country to join the organisation in 1993 and Erdei is a strong advocate of the new "gate-to-gate" concept which combines Eurocontrol's Eatchip ATC harmonisation initiative with its Apatsi effort to improve airport utilisation. He promises that Hungary will be "one of the first" to introduce such a concept. "We will have a totally integrated gate-to-gate system when the improvements are completed," he says.
The work includes upgrading the ATC system to be compatible with the Eatchip measures, along with an ECU 40 million ($43 million) modernisation of its air-traffic services (ATS). The LRI is funding 40% of the work through route charges and other activities such as cargo handling and airport retailing. The work includes a totally new ATS building near Ferihegy airport which will combine the en route centre now located in Budapest with the airport-approach control.
Hungarian airspace will be divided into seven en route sectors instead of five, with military ATS being provided in the same building - an innovation pushed hard by Erdei which pre-empts most other European countries in meeting the Eurocontrol requirements for future civil-military co-operation.
Erdei notes that one of the reasons for the jump in en route traffic is because of the Bosnian conßict, which forced traffic formerly overflying Yugoslavia to use Hungarian airspace instead.
"The airlines are very satisfied with the service we have provided, especially considering that the number of movements more than doubled from 115,000 in 1991 to 270,000 a year later," he says. Today, the system handles 371,000 en route movements a year, bringing it to the limits of its capacity. "It is physically impossible to open more sectors in the current building," he says.
The new ATS centre is now a year late coming on line because of software problems experienced by prime contractor Siemens Plessey in implementing the jointly developed Hungarian/Eurocontrol specification. "We're talking to Eurocontrol about it and we hope it will be operational by the end of 1998. We cannot tolerate any further delays," says Erdei.
Ultimately, he concedes that the drive for constant improvement is something of a personal mission. "This airport is more than just a job. For me it is also a hobby. There is always going to be a need to develop and realise its potential," he says.
Source: Flight International
