Best of Budapest & Hungary

The last year and a half have been the most successful period in the history of the Hungarian capital’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport and its operator, Budapest Airport. In addition to the company working continuously and successfully on recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, closing its second profitable year since the epidemic last year and the steady upturn in passenger and cargo traffic, the airport operator has earned 28 awards and accolades nationally and internationally.

    According to a press release, several of these bear witness to the high quality of the services provided by Budapest Airport, but the airport community has also earned prestigious awards in the fields of sustainability, route development, human resource management, PR, marketing, cargo, event management and procurement.

    In the spring of 2019, Budapest Airport started a major series of developments, and over the past five years, the value of investments at the airport has exceeded HUF 130 billion, and this spring, a new series of developments worth HUF 17 billion was launched. The continuous development is also felt by passengers; in the latest international passenger satisfaction survey, which evaluates the first quarter of 2024, Budapest Airport’s rating has reached unprecedented heights. Respondents gave Budapest Airport a record overall satisfaction score of 4.32 on a scale of 5, putting it in first place out of the 20 benchmark airports surveyed, ahead of Prague, Alicante and Barcelona, for example. However, this survey only topped off the last year and a half of Budapest Airport, during which the operator and the airport community earned no less than 28 awards, accolades and professional certifications.

    At the beginning of March 2023, Ferenc Liszt International Airport, its operator Budapest Airport and the airport community received an unprecedented recognition. Airports Council International (ACI) named Budapest Airport the best airport in Europe in the category of airports with 15-25 million passengers. As part of the survey, ACI assesses service quality at nearly 400 international airports based on 30 performance indicators and asks passengers face-to-face about the entire passenger process, providing a complex picture of the arrivals and departures experience, from entry, through time spent at the airport to boarding.

     A little later, the industry also recognized the improvement in quality, after passengers, as auditors from the international aviation research organization Skytrax assessed the airport’s services and processes and, following a three-day audit, upgraded the airport’s rating to four stars. As with hotel rankings, the independent experts provided a rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, based on more than 500 performance indicators.

     As last year, Ferenc Liszt International Airport won the Skytrax Best Airport in Eastern Europe award at the World Airport Awards. This year marks the eleventh time in a row that Budapest Airport has earned this prestigious award, based on passenger feedback. The Skytrax Award is based on the World Airport Survey questionnaires, which are completed by passengers of more than 100 different nationalities over a seven-month survey period, through the independent organization.

     This year, the WELL Health-Safety Rating awarded to Ferenc Liszt International Airport in 2023 was also extended, confirming that the airport operator is taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and health of passengers and staff. Budapest Airport Terminal 2 is currently the only facility in Hungary to hold this certification, and is unique in this respect among airports worldwide as well.

    Sustainability is a key focus area for Budapest Airport, and the company is taking a number of measures to reduce the environmental burdens of the airport. These efforts have been confirmed by several certifications over the past year and a half.

     The biggest recognition in this area is the huge step forward that Budapest Airport has taken in achieving level 4+ “Transition” on a scale of 5 in ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme. This is currently achieved by less than ten percent of the more than 550 airports participating in the assessment, and Budapest Airport is the first airport in the Central European region to attain this certification. This achievement confirms that the airport fully offsets the direct carbon emissions from its operations, and is also working with its partners to reduce emissions.

     Budapest Airport continuously monitors and double-checks its sustainability performance, in order to continuously improve it. According to an ESG audit performed last year, the airport operator has achieved a low-risk rating, which confirms that the company pays particular attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects in its investment decisions. The airport operator received a score of 13.2 in Sustainalytics’ ESG risk rating process this year, ranking 49th out of 187 transport companies assessed worldwide and 995th out of 15,718 companies rated globally. Within the BUD group, Airport Fuel Supply Ltd. also achieved an outstanding score in the ESG audit process. Further improving its sustainability performance, AFS improved its bronze rating attained in 2022 to silver in 2023, outperforming 87% of the companies assessed in the scheme by EcoVadis that year.

     Among the projects to receive multiple recognitions in 2023, the DANOVA project supporting independent travel for blind and partially sighted people needs to be highlighted, as it was shortlisted at the Effekt2030 awards and won a special award in the CSR Doing Good Equality, Responsibility, Donation, Supporting Disadvantaged Groups category, the press release highlights.