Best of Budapest & Hungary

The Aeropark Aviation Museum welcomed its 100,000th visitor this year, making it one of the most visited exhibition sites in Hungary. Aeropark, located next to Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport, welcomes visitors in winter, and its collection continues to grow from year to year, the Aviation Cultural Center (LKK) told the state news agency MTI.

In the pre-pandemic period, the Aeropark typically welcomed 70,000 visitors a year, and last year, the same number of visitors came to the exhibition space operated by the Aviation Cultural Center, despite the fact that the museum could only open its doors in May after the restrictions at the beginning of 2021, the statement quotes Aeropark Deputy Managing Director Balázs Kránitz.

He added that about a third of the guests also bought tickets for the popular airport tour program, with Aeropark tour guides showing around some 30,000 people on about 900 tours behind the scenes at Liszt Ferenc International Airport and the maintenance base Aeroplex of Central Europe.

This year's new additions included the Kamov Ka-26 agricultural helicopter, nicknamed the worm bomber, and the Cessna Citation, which also arrived this summer, giving visitors an insight into the world of business aircraft.

As part of this year's restoration program, the Jak-40 aircraft, which has long been used to calibrate the instrument landing system at Ferihegy and several Balkan airports, has undergone an interior and exterior refurbishment. In two large passenger buses, a thematic exhibition has been set up: one showing how Hungarocontrol air traffic controllers work, and the other demonstrating the aircraft maintenance process in Aeroplex hangars.

The development will not stop in 2023. The cockpits and passenger cabins of onetime Hungarian airlines Malév's historic aircraft are constantly being renovated, and thanks to Budapest Airport, new aircraft and buses are expected to arrive at the museum. In addition to the Airbus A320Neo and Cessna simulators, which have been in operation for several years, visitors will also be able to see how helicopter pilots work from January, as the new Mi-2 simulator will enter service in early 2023, the press release reminds.