Air Show

A set of eight airmail stamps was issued as advance publicity for the air show held at Ferihegy Airport on 25 July 1954. The first mass event at Ferihegy Airport (today Liszt Ferenc International Airport), which had opened in 1950, took place on 28 June 1953, when the Hungarian Aeronautical Association organised an air show to mark the third anniversary of the Union of Working Youth. A crowd of 200,000 watched a rich and spectacular programme. The glorification of the current “great leader”, Mátyás Rákosi, could not be omitted: as a closing display, a formation of powered aircraft flew over the airport tracing the initials RM. This was also the first public presentation to a mass audience of the MiG-15 jet fighters that had entered service with the air force in 1951. The second air show was held at Ferihegy in 1954; the contemporary newsreel reporting on it can also be viewed in the article. The air show also appears in the highly successful Hungarian colour musical comedy 2×2 néha 5, starring Ferenc Zenthe, Violetta Ferrari and Ferenc Kállai.  

  For advance publicity for the air show held at Ferihegy Airport on 25 July 1954, the postal administration issued an eight-denomination airmail stamp set. In 1956, the 60 fillér denomination received an international award in Rome for the most beautiful aviation-themed stamp.