Hévíz–Balaton Airport , previously also known as ''Sármellék International Airport'' ( hu, Sármelléki nemzetközi repülőtér), is an international airport in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

located west of

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

, south-southwest of the village of

Sármellék Sármellék is a village in Zala County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the ...

Zala County Zala ( hu, Zala megye, ; ; ) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''megye'') in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia ( Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia (Lendava ...

and

Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by other alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economi ...

. It gains importance due to the proximity of

, Hungary's most important holiday resort and the thermal spas of

Hévíz Hévíz is a spa town in Zala County, Hungary, about from Keszthely. Description of the lake The town is located near Lake Hévíz, the world’s second-largest thermal lake, but biologically the biggest active natural lake. Its temperature i ...

and

Zalakaros Zalakaros is a town in Zala County, Hungary. Zalakaros is famous for its thermal bath, thermal spring baths. It gained its fame in 1967, when prospective oil drilling struck a nearly 96 °C (205 °F) source at a depth of 1000 metres. ...

History

A military airport was located here in the 1940s. It was paved in the 1950s and functioned as a Hungarian military airport until 1960, and as a Soviet military airport between 1960 and the autumn of 1990. The current runways were constructed in 1982. Sármellék International Airport had operated as a public airport since 1991 and became the second international airport of the country on 15 May 2002 after

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport ( hu, Budapest Liszt Ferenc Nemzetközi Repülőtér) , formerly known as ''Budapest Ferihegy International Airport'' and still commonly called just ''Ferihegy'', is the international airport serving t ...

. The airport is owned by the local governments of Sármellék and

Zalavár Zalavár is a village in Hungary, located in Zala County. It is located around southwest of Lake Balaton. Name According to written sources the settlement was called 'Mosapurc' in the 9th century, "''Mosapurc regia civitate''". It was also know ...

since August 2002, operated by an Irish-Hungarian investment group, Cape Clear Aviation Ltd., since 2004. In December 2005,

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

announced three weekly scheduled flights from

London–Stansted London Stansted Airport is a Airports of London, tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 16 ...

, but the route was cut in October 2006, along with flights from Hahn. Due to financial problems, the airport closed over the winter period 2008–09, then closed indefinitely on 10 October 2009. A new buyer was then sought for the facility. It reopened, however, in April 2010. In the next two winters it closed, but it reopened again for the spring and summer months of 2011 and 2012. Since April 2012, the airport has been known by its new name: ''Hévíz–Balaton Airport''.
During summer 2022, Wizzair flew to Dortmund, but the route was cancelled later in the year.https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/220719-w6ns2232q

Airlines and destinations

As of 7 December 2022, there are no regular commercial passenger flights to or from Heviz-Balaton airport

Statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarmellek International Airport Airports in Hungary Soviet Air Force bases Hungary–Soviet Union relations Military installations of the Soviet Union in other countries