Best of Budapest & Hungary

1 August 2024. Breaking the all-time record for June, more than 1.5 million passengers used Ferenc Liszt International Airport in the sixth month of the year.

    This brings the total traffic for the first half of the year to 7.9 million passengers, which is almost 7% higher than the first half of 2019, the record year before the pandemic. The most popular destinations in the first six months were Milan and Istanbul, after all-time favorite London. This summer, passengers can choose from 134 destinations of 41 airlines. Meanwhile, cargo is also booming at the airport, and by the end of the year Budapest Airport, operated by VINCI Airports, is expected to set a record in terms of both passenger traffic and cargo handled.

    The first month of the summer broke a record at Ferenc Liszt International Airport, with 1,557,130 passengers arriving and departing in June, surpassing the figures for the sixth month of 2019. Thus, Budapest Airport closed the first half of the year with a total of 7.9 million passengers, 7% more than in 2019. This predicts that – in line with the expectations of Budapest Airport – 2024 will be another record year, meaning that this year’s passenger numbers could exceed the pre-pandemic levels. 41 airlines are serving the post-pandemic recovery at Budapest, offering 134 destinations in the summer schedule.

    Lyon, Skiathos, Faro and Brasov are novelties this year, but new airlines are also bringing more variety to the portfolio with new routes, offering excellent connections to destinations in the Far East that have been harder to reach until now, and even to Australia and New Zealand. Examples include China Southern’s service to Guangzhou and Shanghai Airlines’ flight to Xi'an, which was added to the wide range of Chinese flights at the end of June, and will soon be joined by Hainan Airlines’ Shenzhen-Budapest service. Besides new additions to the schedule, passenger favorites continue to maintain their position in the destination rankings, with London, Milan and Istanbul being the most popular cities during the half-year, and the UK, Italy and Spain at the top of the country rankings. Airlines offered 66% more seats to Spain and Italy in the first half of this year than in 2019.

    Similar to passenger traffic, Budapest Airport could set a new record for the volume of cargo handled by the end of this year. Cargo volumes in June reached 25,001 tons – this is 57.5% more than in June 2023, surpassing March as the strongest month ever for cargo. In the first half of 2024, a total of 133,747 tons of cargo was handled at Budapest Airport, 46.2% more than in the same period last year, leading to a record half-year in the airport’s history. This result is due to Hungary’s strategic location, Budapest Airport’s exceptional cargo infrastructure and the work of the cargo community

    Based on passenger feedback, Ferenc Liszt International Airport was ranked the best European airport in 2022 among airports with 15-25 million passengers. Budapest Airport also holds the title of best airport in the region, as recognized by Skytrax in 11 consecutive years from 2014 to 2024, also based on passenger ratings. The international aviation research organization has also upgraded the airport’s rating from three to four stars in 2023, based on a review of five hundred performance indicators covering all passenger services. Over the past years, Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport has emerged as a leader, becoming the fastest developing airport in the region. Together with its airline partners, it is a key contributor to the development of tourism in Hungary and Budapest. The BUD Cargo City is a focal point for import and export air cargo; Budapest Airport’s aim is to become the cargo gateway for East-Central Europe.

    About VINCI Airports

    The world’s leading private airport operator, VINCI Airports operates more than 70 airports in 14 countries. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and manages airports by providing its investment capacity and its know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructures and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to a global international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emission across its entire network by 2050.