The devastation of the Second World War didn't spare the other transport branches in Hungary either. Bridges, railways and roads were all in a similar state. Thus aviation played a major role in the rejuvenation of the country's economy and restoration of the administration. However, it soon became clear that without external assistance the reorganization of aviation would be simply impossible.
After Hungary fell into the Soviet sphere of interest following the war it could only look for assistance from the Soviet Union. Negotiations in Moscow about Hungarian-Soviet economic cooperation and the possibilities for the establishment of different joint ventures started as early as August 1945.
On 29 March, 1946, an agreement was signed under which Maszovlet, the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company and the legal predecessor of Malév, was established. As the founding document set down, the airline was entitled to organize air traffic, to manage passengers, baggage, mail and goods transport both in Hungary and abroad.
Maszovlet's 2700 shares were held in equal proportions by the Hungarian state and the Soviet state. From the basic capital, only 40 shares were registered in cash, the others being covered by contributions in kind of the two parties. The Hungarians provided the necessary staff and the airports, while the Soviets gave the aircraft, spare parts, flight control equipment and instructors.
The single most important condition for starting operations was already fixed because the Budaörs airport had survived the war relatively intact. Half of the around 200-person team of experts taken on by Maszovlet were former employees of Malert.
The third condition necessary for starting was met in August 1946, when the first five, 21-person Li-2 passenger aircraft, and later the 3-seater Po-2 taxi aircraft arrived from the Soviet Union. Following this the retraining of crews could begin, while the reconstruction of provincial airports given to Maszovlet continued at a fast pace.
On October 15, 1946, amidst celebratory scenes, the first two Maszovlet flights departed from Budaörs airport to Szombathely and Debrecen
In the same year official Szeged and Gyôr flights were opened. By the end of the year Maszovlet aircraft had flown 292 hours with 338 take-offs, and carried a total 1864 passengers and 17 tonnes of cargo.
In 1947, Miskolc and Pécs were integrated into the route network, and in following years the scheduled domestic network was expanded to take in Nyíregyháza, Békécsaba, Kaposvár, Zalaegerszeg and Nagykanizsa, while summer season flights operated to Siófok.
In 1947, Maszovlet's first foreign charters departed Hungary, and then scheduled Prague flights opened. The airline planned to operate Warsaw, Bucharest and Belgrade flights as well, but for economic reasons they had to give up the idea. Instead, they signed pooling contracts with the airlines of these countries.
Foreign flights necessitated the employment of stewardesses. Maszovlet drafted its first tender in 1947 for candidate flight attendants, who had to be aged under 30 and able to speak two foreign languages. Of the 150 applicants - and after an extremely strict selection procedure - only 11 went on to attend the course, and of these four women were finally taken on by the airline.
In 1950, Maszovlet organized the delivery of airmail to 19 provincial towns with technology reminiscent of the heroic age of flight. On the basis of the contract signed with the Hungarian Post Office, Po-2 flights left at dawn from Budapest with sacks containing letters and newspapers on board. When over the particular despatch point for the mail, a crew member just threw the appropriate sack out of the aircraft.
In this manner every flight could deliver mail to up to a dozen destinations. The service was so successful that in the following year consignments - naturally nothing fragile - were thrown from Maszovlet aircraft over 40 settlements. Po-2 aircraft were also later used for experimental agricultural flights in Hungary.
The opening of Ferihegy airport on May 7, 1950, was an important turning point for Maszovlet. Designs for the new Budapest international airport had been completed in 1939, and construction work began in the same year. However, the war wrought major damage on the half-finished airport, and thus at the time of the foundation of Maszovlet there was not even the remote possibility of considering operating from Ferihegy.
The Hungarian government - recognizing the outstanding importance of air traffic - provided significant credits for the reconstruction of the airport, and thus a 2,500 m concrete runway was built by 1950, while a passenger building, the big hangar, a series of additional blocks and the highway leading to the airport were partly completed.
The greatest achievements in Maszovlet's domestic traffic were reached between 1951-54. The relatively cheap airfares also contributed to this success; ticket prices were not allowed to exceed those for an express train, first class, to the same destination. The summer of 1954 marked the high point in traffic, when Maszovlet flights linked 11 domestic cities with Budapest, and partly with each other. Scheduled Warsaw, Berlin and Bucharest flights also started in this year.
Provincial airports generally located 5-10 km from the city centers had to make do with grass landing strips and relatively modest navigational equipment. Passengers could travel in to town by Maszovlet bus or by taxi. Although the tough, undemanding Li-2 aircraft didn't require any ground servicing because of the short (40-50 minute) flight times, still traffic had to be limited.
The flight could only start when at the relevant airport there was no cloud or fog under 200 m, and the horizontal visual distance was 1000-1500 m. Since there was no runway lighting equipment, aircraft were not able to fly between sunset and sunrise. Wet or iced runways also hampered traffic.
On November 6, 1954, a joint statement by Hungary and the Soviet Union announced the closure of their joint venture. By this time Hungarian civil aviation had acquired all the necessary conditions for independent operation. On November 25, an inter-state agreement was signed in Moscow under which Hungary purchased the Soviet share in Maszovlet. Following this, from November 26, Malév Hungarian Air Transport Company - as the legal successor of Maszovlet - started independent activities.