After its establishment the airline operated its Li-2 aircraft mainly on domestic routes, and there were few major changes in Malév's life until the year 1956 when it marked an "opening" towards West Europe.
The first scheduled Malév flight to Vienna departed on June 5, and a DC-6 passenger aircraft of the first Western airline to fly into Ferihegy, KLM, touched down in the same month, on a flight to Cairo via Budapest.
Between October 23 and November 4 - during the 1956 Revolution in Hungary - Malév aircraft ferried Red Cross aid deliveries from Vienna to Budapest. On November 4, Ferihegy airport came under Soviet military control, and air traffic was closed for almost three months.
At the end of 1956 the Malév fleet comprised eight Li-2 aircraft (the Po-2 aircraft were taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture as crop sprayers). The new aviation concept supported by the Hungarian government highlighted Malév's primary task, the development of air traffic beyond the borders of the country. But to implement this, on the one hand new aircraft were necessary, and on the other hand Malév's main airport Ferihegy had to be modernized, to which the Hungarian government provided the necessary investment resources.
Thanks to this, Malév underwent a series of radical changes in the years until 1961. The Ferihegy passenger building was expanded, the runway was lengthened from 2,500 m to 3,010 m, and Instrument Landing System (ILS) equipment, lighting and radar were installed. With this Ferihegy matched European standards, and was able to ensure the safe arrival and departure of virtually any foreign aircraft.
At the same time the long-awaited modernization of the fleet got underway. In the spring of 1957, Malév's first Il-14 aircraft arrived from the Soviet Union, to be followed by two more. In the following year a further five Il-14 aircraft manufactured in East Germany were purchased. In the whole of its fifty year history Malév had at this time the most - 28 units - aircraft it ever had, after taking over Li-2-types from the Hungarian air force. Relying upon the latter aircraft, Malév started regular cargo flights to the major cities in Western and Northern Europe.
Following the signing of inter-state aviation agreements, the further development of Malév's scheduled European network started. By 1961, Malév had flights to Belgrade, Copenhagen, Tirana, Amsterdam, Brussels, Moscow, Stockholm, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris and Rome. Malév representations and city offices were opened at the destinations. Parallel with this foreign airlines also opened up Ferihegy flights and Budapest representations. In only a few years Malév and Ferihegy had closed up to Europe.