EditHours After Fidesz’s election defeat, Hungarian military aircraft departed for abroad
The government refuses to disclose details about such flights, classifying all related data for 30 years on grounds of national security
Just hours after Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party suffered a landslide defeat in the parliamentary elections, several Hungarian military aircraft – long used by government officials as private jets – took off from Hungary, EUalive’s partner Átlátszó reports.
One Dassault Falcon and one Airbus headed toward Saudi Arabia, another Airbus flew toward Italy, and a large Embraer KC-390 cargo plane made a quick round trip to Libya, which the military described as part of an international training exercise.
Before the election, there were widespread jokes that Fidesz would watch the results at the airport and, in case of defeat, fly directly to Moscow for protection. While that did not happen, multiple government-linked military planes were mobilised shortly after the results showed a clear victory for Péter Magyar’s Tisza party.
Quick cargo flight to Libya
The first aircraft to move was the KC-390 cargo plane with registration 611. It departed from the Kecskemét military airbase around 2:00 a.m. local time on April 12 (shortly after the election results were announced) and flew directly to Sirte, Libya – the former hometown of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
The plane landed in Sirte around 4:30 a.m. local time, stayed for about three to three-and-a-half hours, and returned to Hungary by late morning.
In response to an inquiry from Telex, the Hungarian military stated that the flight was connected to the Flintlock 26 international special operations exercise, taking place in Ivory Coast and Libya from April 11 to May 3, with Hungarian forces participating.
Falcon Jet en route to Saudi Arabia
Around 8:00 a.m. local time, the Dassault Falcon 7X (registration 607) – frequently used by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó – took off from Kecskemét. It flew southeast over Romania toward Egypt, passed Cairo without landing, and continued heading toward Saudi Arabia.
Transport airbuses also on the move
Shortly afterward, at around 9:00 a.m., one of the military’s Airbus A319 transport planes (registration 604) followed a similar southeastern route, passing over western Turkey and the island of Rhodes.
Later, at 10:30 a.m., the second Airbus A319 (registration 605) departed southwest toward Italy, entering Croatian airspace near Zadar before continuing onward.
Background on the aircraft fleet
In 2018, the Hungarian Armed Forces acquired two Airbus A319s (registrations 604 and 605) and two Dassault Falcon 7X business jets (606 and 607). Although officially purchased for military tasks, the planes – especially the Falcons – were regularly used to transport Orbán, Szijjártó, and other government delegations.
The government has always refused to disclose details about these flights (passengers, destinations, and costs), classifying all related data for 30 years on grounds of national security.
In 2020, Hungary also purchased two Embraer KC-390 cargo planes from Brazil for an estimated total of around $300 million (approximately 92 billion Hungarian forints at the time).
The original article by EUalive’s partner Átlátszó in Hungarian can be found here.
Caption: Visual by Átlátszó.
Updated: April 13, 2026 - 16:26
