Minister of Economy enjoyed luxury aboard private jet on official trips to Paris, Berlin, and Zurich

Even for short parts to nearby big cities, politicians often rent private luxury jets – even though there are more than enough commercial alternatives. We took a closer look at the recent trips of Minister of Economy Márton Nagy, who used tens of millions of HUFs for few-hour trips aboard top-of-the line private jets.

444.hu recently examined the costs of the Minister of Economy Márton Nagy’s official travels between January 2023 and November 2024. According to the data provided by the Ministry of National Economy in response to a public data request, the Minister and his delegation of a few people were provided with top-class hotel rooms or suites, and private planes were chartered for a total of HUF 62 million (USD 158 000).

Although the cost of chartering a plane over a period of almost two years is not outstanding,

the bulk of the amount was spent on just two short flights within Europe.

Átlátszó investigated which private planes Minister Márton Nagy used on taxpayers’ money during his official trips, instead of the scheduled flights that are the rule, according to the reports published for 444.hu.

Millions for a few hours of flight

According to the Ministry of National Economy (NGM), the minister and his delegation travelled by private jet to three official trips to Paris, one to Davos and one to Berlin. The earliest trip to Paris took place on 14-15 September 2023. The minister and his delegation of 1 person “held talks with high-level representatives of partners in France”.

We checked the private jets departing from Budapest at that date using the ADS-D Exchange aircraft tracking site. On 14 September 2023, only one private jet flew from Budapest to Paris, a luxury Bombardier Challenger 350 jet with the registration OE-HUG.

This short but luxorious flight cost the state HUF 14 047 057, according to the NGM.

The fact that the aircraft was carrying an “important man” to Paris is also indicated by the route it took on the tarmac of Budapest airport before take-off: the private jet taxied from its parking spot at Ferihegy 1 to the area near Terminal 2/A of Liszt Ferenc Airport, where the government lounge used by state leaders is located. The OE-HUG waited there for a few minutes before taxiing back to Ferihegy 1 and taking off from the runway there. That is, it only went to Terminal 2/A to pick up its passenger near the government lounge.

The aircraft landed en route in Vienna to pick up or drop off someone, and then flew on to Paris, where the minister and his escort stayed.

What do we know about the OE-HUG?

According to hvg360, the OE-HUG Bombarider Challenger 350 belongs to the fleet of the Vienna-based aviation company AVCON JET, but it is based at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport.

So far, only a small group of Hungarian entrepreneurs have used the private jet. According to Szegeder.hu, the Austrian Gaston Glock Glock Aviation’s luxury helicopter OE-XWY – often used by Lőrinc Mészáros and his business partners – was also used to carry passengers to OE-HUG. The connection between the two aircraft and the Felcsút billionaire was also confirmed by Átlátszó: Mészáros travelled with them, among other things, to a training match of the NB 1 football team of the Puskás Akadémia, Marbella, Spain.

The private jet is a frequent visitor to popular holiday resorts in the south of France, Italy and other coastal resorts, football venues and Bordeaux, France, near which the vineyard and hotel of László Kalocsai, associate of Lőrinc Mészáros, is located.

The 30 million flight

The other expensive trip mentioned in the 444.hu article was the official flight of Márton Nagy and one more person to Paris starting on 17 January 2024. The one-night stay in Paris – listed as 1.5 nights in the disclosure – was an expensive affair for taxpayers. Nagy and his travelling partner’s 1-night stay in Paris cost over HUF 1,7 million (USD 4334). Adding to that was the chartered flight aboard OE-HCU, which cost HUF 14 665 758 (USD 37 389).

Looking more closely at the flight records, it became clear that the minister did not directly return home from Paris to Budapest the next day, but landed in Zurich in the same luxury plane to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos on the was back to Budapest.

Even though Zurich is mid-way between Paris and Budapest, this small detour somehow cost and extra HUF 15 392 792.

This means that the Minister and his delegation travelled the Budapest-Paris-Zurich-Budapest route at a total cost of HUF 30 058 550 (USD 76 633).

The OE-HCU luxury jet is operated by a Switzerland-based company called Sparfell Aero, which not only operates and utilises aircraft, but also luxury yachts and manages and rents luxury real estate. On the company’s website and in this video, everyone can see for themselves the luxury that a chartered private jet represents, as well as the level of comfort and travel conditions it offers its passengers. For those of you who don’t click on the site, there’s a world of difference between the comfort of a scheduled flight and the comfort of a private jet, which seems to be reflected in the price.

There was a slightly cheaper trip to Paris

Based on the information provided, it seemed that a trip to Paris could be much cheaper with another charter flight. On 10 July 2024, the minister and his delegation of 1 person travelled to Paris on  a Cessna C-650 Citation VI private jet, registered HA-JEX, for HUF 9 023 930 (USD 23 000).

Where exactly Mr. Nagy was travelling at that time is a bit murky: the Cessna did not return to Budapest after his Paris visit, and a day later, according to NGM’s reply to 444, the minister already was already on his way to the United States with the Prime Minister’s delegation, but this makes no sense since by th 11th of July, the Prime Minister already arrived to Washington 4 days ago. Even more suspicious is that Nagy can not be found in any of the photos published from Viktor Orbán’s, or any other delegates photos made during the US visit.

It is also interesting to note that after a one-day stay in Washington, Márton Nagy travelled to Vienna on 12 July without a delegation, where he stayed for 540,000 forints, according to the Ministry.

The Berlin trip

Márton Nagy and his two-member delegation travelled to Berlin, Germany, on 23 September 2024 to attend the ministerial meeting of the Western Balkans Business Conference. This time, the Minister stayed for 1 night at 287,117 HUF, while the accommodation costs for the 2-person delegation were not disclosed by the Ministry. A separate flight was booked for the three-member delegation, this time at a cost of HUF 8 704 108.

For this trip, too, Átlátszó was able to identify the private jets, which – based on the price reported and similar to the trip to Paris in July – were in the “lower” price category.

On the Budapest-Berlin route, a Cessna C-650 Citation III with registration HA-JEP carried the delegation, while the next day a Cessna C-650 Citation VI with registration HA-SCU returned to Budapest.

On both occasions, flight data showed that the aircraft made a detour near the government lounge at Terminal 2/A of Liszt Ferenc International Airport for the passengers: one picked up the passengers there on departure and the other dropped them off on their return.

Why a private jet?

Politicians use private jets for official trips, claiming that there is no other way – ie. using a regular airline flight – to get to their programmes on time.

The legislation therefore allows ministers to rent private aircraft, but such a choice must be justified and subject to specific authorisation. Since the destinations of Márton Nagy’s flight are all relatively close major cities in Europe, one would think would be easily accessible by commercial flights, thus not requiring the use of private jet.

For example, on September 14th, the day of the minister’s trip to Paris,

there were two commercial flights from Paris to Budapest, arriving only 9 minutes later than the private jet.

Similar, cheaper, albeit slightly less convenient commercial alternatives could have been used for the Budapest-Paris-Zurich trip in 2014.

We asked the press department of the Ministry of National Economy about the luxury aircrafts and if they really had no options but to rent them, as well as the contradictions detailed above. They did not respond to our request, neither within the 48-hour deadline we requested, nor until days after the publication of our story.