The first charter flight of this year's summer holiday season took off from Košice in the early hours of the morning. An Airbus A320 with 140 clients from the HappyTravel travel agency on board took off for Hurghada, Egypt, at 03:45. During the summer season, Košice offers charter flights to 17 destinations in 11 countries. New destinations include Tirana in Albania, Izmir in Turkey, Zakynthos and Patras in Greece, Podgorica in Montenegro, and, after a long break, Palma de Mallorca in Spain.

Today's flight to Hurghada was special not only because it marked the opening of the summer season at Košice Airport. The HappyTravel travel agency is launching a year-round offer of tours to Egypt from Košice this summer. Roman Berkes, Managing Director of HappyTravel, continues: "The biggest novelty that clients can look forward to in the 2024 season is the full 8-day holidays. Customers won't miss any significant part of their holiday and will be able to enjoy it to the fullest. They will also be able to fly from Košice to Hurghada every week throughout the year. We expect to carry over 13,000 passengers from Košice to Hurghada by the end of the year.

Thomas Dworschak, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Košice Airport, said: "We are delighted that passengers from our wide catchment area will have the opportunity to fly to Egypt all year round, including the winter months. Such an offer has been lacking here until now and we are very much looking forward to cooperating with the HappyTravel travel agency on these flights. The overall offer of charter destinations for this year is very rich and the travelling public really has a lot to choose from. We believe that this year we will once again be the airport of choice for the whole of eastern Slovakia".

More than 900 charter flights to 17 destinations in 11 countries are planned from Košice for the summer holiday season: Albania (Tirana), Turkey (Antalya, Izmir), Bulgaria (Burgas), Greece (Heraklion, Rhodes, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos, Patras), Croatia (Brač), Montenegro (Podgorica), Egypt (Hurghada, Marsa Matrouh), Spain (Palma de Mallorca), Italy (Lamezia Terme), Tunisia (Monastir) and Cyprus (Larnaca). Tours and tickets are available from travel agents and airlines.

This offer will be complemented by the seasonal connection between Košice and Zadar in Croatia, which will be operated by Ryanair twice a week from 2 June to 29 September.

Summer timetable 2024 at Košice Airport:

Swiss International Air Lines: 3 flights a week to Zurich and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia and Africa.

LOT Polish Airlines: 6 flights a week to Warsaw and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia.

Austrian Airlines: 14 flights a week to Vienna and further within their wide network of destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.

Ryanair to destinations: London Stansted (5x weekly), Prague (4x weekly), Liverpool (2x weekly), Dublin (2x weekly), Zadar (2x weekly from 2 June).

Wizz Air to London Luton (4 times a week).