Bryan Leib, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Fundamental Rights who is in contention for being the next US Ambassador to Hungary, has sent a letter to the CEOs of major American airlines, urging them to start direct flights to Budapest.
Currently, there is no direct flight option from Budapest, Hungary to any American city. Passengers have to take connected flights or make a stop in other European cities, such as Warsaw, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, or Brussels.
Direct flights are not an unusual topic in foreign diplomacy. In April 2024, for example, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó of Hungary pledged to start direct flights from Budapest to Xi’an, China, after his diplomatic visit to Beijing, China. Also, in the wake of the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, Hungary played a big role in convincing other European nations not to cancel their direct flights to Israel.
‘This evening I sent a letter via email to the CEO’s of Delta, United, and American Airlines, suggesting they start exploring the possibility of creating non-stop flights from major U.S. hubs such as NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington D.C. to Budapest, Hungary. These fantastic U.S. airline carriers are flying non-stop to over 20 European cities every month. Surely they can think about flying to the “Paris of the East,”’ Leib wrote in his tweet.
He has raised this issue previously before. He first publicly talked about it as early as February 2024. That is why he also wrote in his tweet ‘Just like President Donald Trump, when I make promises, I keep them. I’ve been promising for months to start this process once there was a new Commander-in-Chief’.
However, since he has not been officially nominated for Ambassador to Hungary yet, he is stressing that he has sent the letters in his ‘individual capacity’.
In his proposition to the major American airlines, Bryan Leib wrote:
‘Budapest captivated over 5 million visitors in 2023 with its stunning blend of history, architecture, and vibrant culture…With the strong relationship between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, many are predicting that bilateral ties between Washington and Budapest will reach an all-time high. This is a prime opportunity for a U.S. Airline carrier to start flying non-stop to Budapest to assist in supporting the growth of bilateral alliance with Hungary.’
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