Budapest Aircraft Service Ltd. or BASe Airlines ( hu, Budapest Aircraft Service Kft. or BASe Kft), is a Hungarian charter airline based in Budapest, Hungary.

History

BASe Airlines was established in December 1991 by experienced aviation pilots and technicians. The company was based in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, so Budapest-Ferihegy Airport was chosen as the basis for the operations. The flight operations began with two leased

LET L-410 The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice (named Aircraft Industries since 2005), often used as an airliner. The aircraft is capable of landing on short a ...

and included charter and freight flights. From that moment onwards, scheduled passenger flights to neighboring countries began, such as

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, under the call sign of the former AVIAEXPRESS. Starting in 1992, on behalf of foreign partners, night flights were made to Austrian, Slovak and Italian destinations from

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

and

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

. In addition to the operations mentioned above, between 1994 and 2006, BASe Airlines managed and operated eleven Hungarian National Health Service helicopters for HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) tasks based on a network of six heliports, as well as a fixed wing aircraft for international air ambulance services. Starting in 1996, the operation of a special equipped L-410 UVP-E8 (aircraft for aerial works - Flight Inspection Service) by a contract with Budapest Airport Rt. has further improved BASe capabilities, now able to provide precision calibration/test flights of civil and tactical air navigation systems both in Hungary and abroad. The first "Turbolet" aircraft was purchased in 1997, followed by the second in 2000, and by the first helicopter. The same aircraft, as well as some leased Antonov An-26B, were also used for freight transport, both regular and charter, to destinations throughout Europe since 2002. At the same time BASe Airlines operated scheduled flights on behalf of Bosnian Airlines to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and Belgrade. According to the challenge of the tourism, BASe started to operate some seasonal flights from Budapest and other small Hungarian airports to famous tourist destinations in Croatia and

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since 2003. With the first

Embraer EMB 120 The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series ...

, purchased in the summer of 2005, tourist flights have continued and increased, adding to the destinations also

Tivat Tivat (, ) is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro. Name In Serbian and Montenegrin l ...

, Corfu and

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...

, in collaboration with the major Hungarian Tour Operators. Between 2006 and 2011, BASe Airlines flew on behalf of

Air Moldova Air Moldova is the national airline of Moldova headquartered in Chișinău. It mainly operates scheduled and charter services to destinations within Europe from its base at Chișinău International Airport. History The roots of Moldavian civil ...

, in particular following the expansion of the fleet, which since 2008 has seen the purchase of two additional EMB-120s. In the same period BASe began to operate a helicopter Bell 206 for tourist flights and aerial work. In 2007, a contract was signed with the national airline

Malév Hungarian Airlines MALÉV Ltd. ( hu, Malév Zrt.), which did business as MALÉV Hungarian Airlines ( hu, Magyar Légiközlekedési Vállalat, abbreviated ''MALÉV'', ), was the flag carrier of Hungary from 1946 until 2012. Its head office was in Budapest, with i ...

to start running some of its regional flights. During the first season, BAS Airlines flew to Ljubljana and

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

on behalf of Malév.

Fleet

The BASe fleet includes the following aircraft types (at October 2018):

References

External links

Official website
Airlines of Hungary Hungarian companies established in 1991 Airlines established in 1991 {{Hungary-transport-stub