Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 124 m / 408 ft Code SOB Phone +36 83 200 304 | Location Sármellék Website hevizairport.com Elevation 124 m | |
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Operator Hévíz-Balaton Airport Kft. Serves Hévíz and Lake Balaton, Hungary Address Sármellék, Repülőtér 1, 8391 Hungary Similar Mutsch Ungarn Reisen Kft, Hotel Európa Fit****sup, Paradies 99 Immobilie, Capital 99 Ingatlanfo és Szolgá, Zala Volán Travel Agency | ||
Hévíz–Balaton Airport (IATA: SOB, ICAO: LHSM), previously also known as Sármellék International Airport (Hungarian: Sármellék Nemzetközi Repülőtér), is an international airport in Hungary located west of Lake Balaton, 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) south-southwest of the village of Sármellék, Zala County and Keszthely. It gains importance due to the proximity of Lake Balaton, Hungary's most important holiday resort and the thermal spas of Hévíz and Zalakaros.
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History
A military airport was already located here in the 1940s. It was paved in the 1950s and functioned as a Hungarian military airport until 1960, and as a Soviet military airport between 1960 and the Autumn of 1990. The current runways were constructed in 1982.
Sármellék International Airport had operated as a public airport since 1991 and became the second international airport of the country on 15 May 2002 after Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. The airport is owned by the local governments of Sármellék and Zalavár since August 2002, operated by an Irish-Hungarian investment group, Cape Clear Aviation Ltd., since 2004.
In December 2005 Ryanair announced three weekly scheduled flights from London–Stansted, the route has since been cut along with flights announced in October 2006 from Hahn.
Due to financial problems, the airport closed over the winter period 2008–09, but closed indefinitely on 10 October 2009. A new buyer was then sought for the facility. It reopened, however, in April 2010. In the next two winters it was closed, but in the spring and summer months of 2011 and 2012 it reopened again. The flights started again on 14 April 2012.
In 2012 the airport has also got a new name, since April it is known as Hévíz–Balaton Airport.
Airlines and destinations
In addition to the shown scheduled services there are some more occasional charter services, especially during the German summer holiday season.