Malev Airlines Collapse Leaves Other Carriers Working to Fill the Void

Several European carriers have said they are interested in filling the void left by the collapse of state-owned Malev Airlines. The government-owned Hungarian airline, which was $270 million in debut, shut down Friday after 66 years in business as creditors seized its aircraft.

Malev went bankrupt after the European Commission, the regulatory arm of the European Union, ruled that the airline must return the equivalent of $390 million in government aid from 2007 to 2010. For its part, Malev issued instructions to passengers with tickets for future flights on its website.

Malev, which did not fly to the U.S. directly, was the largest airline serving Budapest, Hungary’s capital. If any airline replaces it, that carrier will have to be a private carrier, the Hungarian government said after the airline ceased operating on Friday.

European carriers such as British Airways, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and its Brussels Airlines unit, Air Berlin, Ryanair and Budapest-based Wizz Air have announced capacity expansions and new routes since Malev’s collapse.