Hungarians =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=98Seriously?==?UTF-8?Q?Considering=E2=80=99?= Greater Rockford Airport Deal

December 4, 2003

Hungarians ‘Seriously Considering’ Airport Deal
Rockford Register Star, IL

ROCKFORD — The man behind the ticket counter at Greater Rockford Airport 
picked up the microphone and alerted travelers to the immediate boarding of 
Malev Flight 407, a nonstop from Rockford to Budapest, Hungary. 

He smiled, made the announcement again, and then one more time. 

This was Andras Simonyi, Hungary’s ambassador to the United States. He 
wasn’t angling for a new job — although he seemed to be a natural —— 
but instead was acting out what he thinks could be happening in the near future 
at Rockford’s airport. 

Simonyi and a representative from Hungary’s airline were in town Wednesday 
with U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, as the next step in an effort to bring 
nonstop passenger service from Rockford to the former communist country. 

“Look, if I didn’t believe that this was a possibility, I wouldn’t be 
here,” Simonyi said in an interview later with the Rockford Register Star. 
“So take my presence, and the presence of the representative of Malev here, 
as a sign we are seriously considering this option.” 

Andras Bognar of Malev Hungarian Airlines put it this way: “If we can fill 
the airplane, we would be most happy to fly here. It is just normal for a 
commercial airline like us to always search for new destinations. Rockford is 
one of them.” 

The Hungarians spent most of their one-day visit at Greater Rockford Airport, 
where they lunched on roasted pork loin, whipped potatoes and glazed carrots, 
in between shaking hands with regional business and political leaders. They 
also toured the airport, starting with a drive down the 10,000-foot runway. 

Early response was positive. Bognar said the airport reminded him of 
Budapest’s airport 10 years ago, adding, “it has all the possibilities it 
needs to develop.” 

The most critical aspect of the plan will be developed next: a snapshot of the 
Midwest’s ethnic makeup, where residents travel and a gauge of the interest 
in Hungary and 40 major European cities reachable from Budapest. 

“So we can look at the existing market, but work on making a market that 
doesn’t exist now,” Manzullo told reporters. 

Manzullo helped arrange an initial meeting early last month in Washington, 
D.C., between the Hungarian ambassador and Rockford officials interested in 
bringing international service to the local airport. 

Simonyi said that many Midwesterners have ethnic ties to Hungary and its 
neighbors, including Italy, Germany, Austria and Macedonia. 

“They are all here in Illinois and your neighboring states,” he said. 
“There has got to be an opportunity here, when I look at the region. That is 
why I would think that this project is not just a dream.” 

The research will fall to staff at the Rockford airport, the Rockford Area 
Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Center for Governmental Studies at 
Northern Illinois University. 

While no one is offering hard dates, the decision on whether the deal will 
happen is expected within 90 days. 

The airport board already has agreed to waive fees for the first year of 
Malev’s service. That amounts mostly to the landing fee of $375 per plane and 
the $20 per square foot ticket counter rental. It was unclear how much counter 
space Malev would take, but if the airline landed one plane a week in Rockford, 
it would save about $20,000 in landing fees over the course of a year. 

Among the 120 guests at the airport luncheon Wednesday were two tables of 
Hungarian natives living in northern Illinois. They were understandably excited 
about the possibility of being able to fly home from Rockford’s airport, 
rather than from JFK International Airport in New York City, the only U.S. 
airport Malev uses. 

“It will be just great for us,” said Elizabeth Marton, who escaped from 
Hungary in 1971, almost 20 years before the country shed communism and became a 
democracy. Now living in Rockford, Marton still has many family members and 
friends there, she said. 

Another Hungary native, Margit LeClair of Janesville, Wis., said it’s 
important that people learn about Budapest, the Hungarian capital that’s home 
to museums, opera houses, important architecture and more. 

“If they would know what to expect, they would be more interested,” she 
said. 

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