Hungary will build third terminal at Budapest Airport, economy minister says
Adds talks with QIA in paragraph 4, infrastructure projects details in 5
By Boldizsar Gyori
BUDAPEST, July 9 (Reuters) -Hungary will build a third terminal at Budapest's airport and develop road and rail routes linking it to the capital, Economy Minister Marton Nagy said on Tuesday, as the government aims to transform the airport into a major hub.
Hungary's state-owned Corvinus Zrt. and French co-investor Vinci Airports acquired Budapest Airport last month. Corvinus Zrt. is the majority owner with an 80% stake, while its French partner holds the rest.
The new owners estimate that the new terminal will be ready by 2032 at the earliest, a deadline that also applies to the construction of new road and rail links around it, which Nagy said expected to cost about 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion).
He also said the government is in talks with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on the latter buying a stake of less than 10% in the Airport.
"We will decide on this together with Vinci," Nagy said.
Nagy added that extra taxes on airlines will be phased out from the start of next year.
The government announced windfall taxes on airlines worth 30 billion forints ($82.28 million) in 2022 as it was looking for funds to plug holes in the budget.
It involves a tax worth 10 to 25 euros on passengers departing Hungary and was criticized by airlines.
Since nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban took power in 2010, his government has boosted Hungarian ownership in energy, banking, telecoms and the media, and has been planning to buy the airport for years.
The acquisition of the airport cost 3.1 billion euros ($3.35 billion) with an extension of 1.44 billion euros worth of previously issued loans.
Elsewhere in central Europe, the Polish government announced that it will go ahead with plans to build a huge air hub in the centre of the country, a project that drew criticism for its cost and scale, and for its location far from any major city.
($1 = 0.9247 euros)
($1 = 364.6200 forints)
Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori and Anita Komuves;
Editing by Arun Koyyur and Helen Popper
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