EUJet has suspended flights between Kent International and Budapest after airport chiefs hiked charges by a massive 300 per cent.

The Kent-based airline condemned what it said was a "short-sighted" decision by the Hungarians, and claimed it had been forced to take the decision because the rise had made the route "no longer commercially viable."

Stuart McGoldrick, EUjet’s Group commercial director, said: "The cancelling of Budapest is a disappointment, but the massive increase in airport charges has made it no longer a commercially viable route. We understand other airlines are pulling out of the Hungarian capital too.

"This short-sighted decision by the Hungarian authorities seems sure to hit the local tourism industry. As a leisure destination Budapest was starting to capture the imagination of passengers, and demand was rising."

Meanwhile, EUjet has made temporary changes to the frequency of flights on a number of domestic routes during the summer "in line with customer demand."

The number of flights to Edinburgh will be reduced from 12 to 11 per week and to Newcastle and Belfast from six to three.

Mr McGoldrick said: "Over the past two months our bookings and passengers carried have consistently increased, in particular to our Spanish destinations, Dublin, Edinburgh and Prague, and we are confident that this will continue.

"One example of the growing demand for the EUjet service from Kent International Airport is that all our flights during the forthcoming Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend are full."

Since EUjet began flights from Kent International Airport on September 1 last year, the airline has already taken more than 360,000 passenger bookings.

It has also revealed that more than 90 per cent of its flights arrive on time – better than any other UK airline – and 76 per cent of all flights are early.

The EUjet Customer Services team will be contacting all passengers affected by the suspension of the Budapest route and other changes to arrange alternative itineraries, routes or refunds

In the meantime passengers can visit www.EUjet.com or call 0870 414 1414 for further information.