Tenants have moved into their new offices in building 72A at Budapest Airport. The airport operator originally began to renovate the facility for Hungarian national carrier Malév, which planned to move its management and administrative staff here from the city during the summer.
In spite of the difficult conditions on the office lease market, Budapest Airport has managed to let out 1300 square meters of the building.
The employees of two companies operating at the airport, ground handling service provider Celebi Ground Handling and aircraft maintenance and repair company Aeroplex of Central Europe have started to move into the renovated building. Buildings 72A, B and C are three office buildings that were originally constructed, somewhat ironically, for the former national carrier Malév during the 1980’s, at the architectural, mechanical and heating technology standards of that time. Budapest Airport planned to renovate all three of the 3300-square-meter facilities, but the bankruptcy of Malév in February this year upset those plans. However, the airport operator decided to continue with the renovation of building 72A, which had already begun (the three-story building had to be demolished down to the concrete structure), and sought new tenants.
It did not have to look too far, as the building will be used by the employees of Aeroplex, who are moving from temporary offices, and the staff of Celebi, who were looking for improved conditions of accommodation at the airport. The management of the Turkish ground handling company will also be making the move to the new, state-of-the-art facility, which carries the added advantage of offering a location that is closer to the company’s operations. Celebi Ground Handling provides ground handling services to numerous airlines, including Lufthansa, Ryanair, Norwegian, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.
In addition to airliners, Celebi also handles cargo aircraft and operates the general aviation terminal at Budapest Airport. “We were really looking forward to moving into our new offices, because it is important for us to be able to welcome partners in pleasant surroundings, and our employees also deserve better working conditions,” said Osman Yilmaz, country director for Celebi Ground Handling Hungary. “We have been operating at Budapest Airport for six years now, and we offer the entire spectrum of ground handling services, from full service airlines through low cost carriers to the operation of VIP lounges. From now on, the quality of our offices will be better suited to that of our profile,” he added.
The staff of Aeroplex of Central Europe (who perform aircraft maintenance, amongst others, for Air Europa, Air Berlin, Jet2.com and Travel Service) have also just completed the move to their new home. “We are still getting used to our new surroundings, which is a modern open plan office, one large open space similar to editorial offices, with the meeting rooms located in the corners. This will greatly increase the efficiency of our work, and enhance communication between employees,” commented Imre Nemcsok, the managing director of Aeroplex.
“We sincerely welcome our tenants in the new building,” said René Droese, property management director for Budapest Airport during the opening ceremony. “Budapest Airport is doing everything it can to make sure that its partners should be satisfied with their renovated office accommodation in the long term as well. These offices offer a high level of comfort, and are available not only for companies operating at the airport, but also for external partners, and thankfully there is quite a lot of interest from prospective tenants.”
The facility, called the BUD Airport Office, was renovated by main contractor Strabag, based on designs by the Óbuda Architecture Studio. Its most interesting feature is that it is the first not only in Hungary, but in the entire region to be awarded BREEAM environmental certification, in spite of the fact that it is not a greenfield project, but a renovated building. BREEAM is the world’s foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings, which not only takes into account the energy efficiency of the building, but also a broad range of categories, including the materials used and even the environmental impacts of construction.
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Budapest Airport, Tenants move into state-of-the-art airport office building