New airlines to boost tourism in Hungary

The Hungarian economy received a boost recently when four new airlines announced last week that they would begin regular scheduled flights this summer. The biggest name of the four was Delta Air Lines, Inc, whose first scheduled flight since 1998 arrived at Ferihegy airport in Budapest on 9 May.

The Atlanta-based airline will fly five times a week between Budapest and JFK Airport, New York. Budapest Airport said it had been in negotiations with Delta since 2002.

Delta, the United States' third largest carrier, has been operating under bankruptcy protection since Sept 2005. The company last flew its own aircraft to Budapest in 1998, and had a code share flight with MALÉV Hungarian Airlines until 2002.

At around the same time the Delta flight was touching down at Budapest, Irish budget airline Ryanair was landing about 190km southwest at FlyBalaton Airport in Sármellék, close to Lake Balaton. The airline will fly Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the service three times weekly, and expects to carry some 40,000 passengers on the route in the first year of operations.

Earlier, on 1 May, Finnish airline Blue1 (owned by SAS Scandinavian Airlines) became the 48th scheduled airline to use Ferihegy when it launched its thrice-weekly connection with Helsinki.

According to the airport, Finland accounted for 175,054 passengers (2.1 % of total passenger traffic) in 2005, a 10% rise compared to the same period last year. Blue1 will operate from Budapest from 1 May to 30 of June, and between 1 September and 27 October, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Finally, Czech airline Smart Wings, the republic's first low cost airline, announced that it was planning flights from Budapest to Paris (seven times a week) and Rome, Milan and Prague (six times a week).

New cultural capitals named

A jury panel recommended this week that the Brussels - 2010 European capitals of culture be awarded to the cities of Istanbul ( Turkey); Essen ( Germany) and Pecs ( Hungary).

Other cities in the running, including the Ukraine capital Kiev and the German city of Goerlitz, were rejected because their plans were not as detailed as the three that won said Sir Jeremy Isaacs, who chaired the jury.

The recommendation is expected to be endorsed by EU ministers later this year, so that planning can start and EU prize funds of around $1.2m split among the three cities can be handed out.

Being awarded the title of cultural capital allows cities to boost their reputation and draw more tourists. EU funding for the plan is aimed at improving access to culture like museums, theatre shows and other attractions.

Past capitals like Glasgow ( Scotland) and Lille ( France), used the title to re-launch their cities to visitors and renovate city cores. The Greek city of Patras is this year's cultural capital, and it will be held by Seville ( Spain) and Luxembourg next year.

Economist calls for a rise to Chinese interest rates

China's central bank should up interest rates further in order to ease what is an overheated property market, according to economist Yi Xianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Finance Centre.

Xianrong said: "Low interest rates have led to excessive investment and severe speculation in property. It is the key reason for surging property prices."

The People's Bank of China raised the benchmark one-year lending rate by 27 basis points in April 2006.

The UAE’s mortgage market growing at an unprecedented level

The mortgage market in the UAE is experiencing an unprecedented level of growth. Lender Tamweel forecast that the mortgage market is set to surge by 50% from Dh8 billion to Dh12 billion. Analysts attribute the increase to investor confidence sparked by recent property laws issued in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Jury is out on Bulgaria and Romania

The decision on the European Union (EU) entry date for Bulgaria and Romania will be made in October. The two countries are hoping to obtain EU membership in January 2007, but first, they must satisfy the European Commission that they have addressed serious issues such as organised crime and corruption, according to European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso.

Pru launches Asia fund

Prudential has launched an Asian property fund that aims to raise at least £530m by the end of 2007.

The fund will package buildings in Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and Singapore into a core Asia-pacific fund.

Prudential's chief executive, Jonathan Allen said: "The venture dovetails nicely with what we see as a significant shift of attention of global capital to Asia Pacific property assets."

He added: "The two obvious elephants in the room are India and China, but there's also Vietnam, where we look at opportunities."

Japanese economy races ahead

The Japanese economy grew at a faster than expected in the first quarter of 2006, which may soon cause zero-rate Japanese interest rates to come to an end.

Data from the Bank of Japan reveals that the country's economy rose by an annual rate of 1.9%.

Japanese GDP rose 0.5% compared to the last quarter of 2005, according to Japan's Cabinet Office.

Algarve property prices lead the way in Portugal

Data from the Instituto Nacional de Estatástica (INE) reveals that the average house price in Portugal currently stands at €1,225 per square metre. At €1,481 per square metre, the tourist region of the Algarve, is the most expensive place to buy property.