LOT will use Boeing 787 Dreamliners for the flights, departing on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. The aircraft can seat 252 passengers and carry 12 tonnes of cargo, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

Jost Lammers, CEO of Liszt Ferenc operator Budapest Airport, said the airport served almost half a million passengers on connecting flights to and from the U.S. last year. He highlighted that the airport recorded a 17% increase in passenger traffic during the first quarter of this year alone, making it one of Europe’s most rapidly growing airports.  

At a press conference held at the airport prior to the official launch of the route, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó was cited by official government website kormany.hu as saying that 1,700 American companies currently operating in Hungary provide jobs to some 100,000 Hungarians. He added that the U.S. has grown to become Hungary’s most important export market outside the European Union, with 51 major new U.S. investments realised in Hungary since 2014, creating 11,000 new jobs.

“Accordingly, LOT’s new route will also be significantly contributing to the growth of the Hungarian economy,” he stressed. 

LOT also launched a direct flight between Budapest and the Polish city of Krakow Wednesday. LOT will operate the flight every day of the week except Thursday.

As many as 33,000 passengers a year could take the Budapest-Krakow flight, said Balázs Bogáts, in charge of flight development for Budapest Airport.