Hévíz–Balaton Airport
Hévíz–Balaton Airport
Hévíz–Balaton Airport (IATA: SOB, ICAO: LHSM), previously also known as Sármellék International Airport (Hungarian: Sármelléki nemzetközi repül?tér), 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.
Location
46.686°N, 17.159°E · 124 m s. n. m. (408 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 1
Tower
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
A military airport was 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. Then named Sármellék International Airport, it had operated as a public airport since 1991. The airport became the second international airport of Hungary after Budapest on 15 May 2002. 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, but the route was cut in October 2006, along with flights from Hahn. Due to financial problems, the airport closed over the winter period 2008–09, then 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 closed, but it reopened again for the spring and summer months of 2011 and 2012. Since April 2012, the airport has been known by its new name: Hévíz–Balaton Airport. During summer 2022, Wizz Air flew to Dortmund, but the route was cancelled later in the same year.
Photo: Peter Stehlik PS-2507 · CC BY 3.0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB). Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB
MLA
“Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_sob,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB}},
urldate = {2026-10-24},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SOB |title=Hévíz–Balaton Airport (SOB) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-24 |language=en}}