Best of Budapest & Hungary

30 August 2024. This year’s travel season is still in full swing, but behind the scenes planning for next year is already well underway at Ferenc Liszt International Airport. In addition to attracting new exciting destinations and developing the airport, preparations are focused on celebrating a very important anniversary: Ferenc Liszt International Airport turns 75 on 7 May 2025. Budapest Airport, operated by VINCI Airports, is preparing for the celebrations with a series of events dedicated to the legendary, eponymous composer Ferenc Liszt.

    Many of us remember the naming of the airport as if it had happened yesterday, but few people know that the story actually begins in the 1700s. It was then that Franz Mayer, a Bavarian beer brewer, settled in Hungary, and later his son, Ferenc Xavér Mayerffy, rented the hills between Vecsés and Rákoshegy and planted them with vines. The locals named the area Ferihegy (The Hill of Ferenc) after the successful and likeable tenant, and then – some 200 years later – construction of Budapest Airport began here in 1942. However, World War II intervened and the inauguration of the airport was delayed until 7 May 1950. In line with local tradition, the centre of Hungarian civil aviation was then referred to as Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, which celebrates its 75th birthday next year.

    More than half a century after its inauguration, the need arose to give the Hungarian capital’s airport a name that would do justice to its reputation as the gateway to Hungary. In 2011, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Hungarian composer, the Parliament decided that Budapest Airport should bear the name of Ferenc Liszt, commemorating one of the outstanding figures of the cultural heritage of Hungary and Europe. The new name also includes the geographical name of the area where the airport is located.

    Just as music and the everlasting masterpieces of the world-famous composer Liszt (who was also a great traveller, visiting almost every major European city), travel also connects people from all corners of the world. To mark the 75th anniversary of the gateway to Hungary, Budapest Airport is preparing a series of cultural events in 2025, which will also commemorate the life’s work of its namesake, Ferenc Liszt. Next year will also mark another important anniversary in this respect: One of the composer’s most famous pieces, Liebesträume (Dreams of Love), will be 175 years old.

    “It has always been important to VINCI Airports that the airports it operates preserve and represent the unique values and traditions of each country,” said Francois Berisot, CEO of Budapest Airport. He stressed: “This is why one of the most important focus points of next year, in addition to maintaining the high quality of the airport, is to celebrate the timeless values, the life’s work of Ferenc Liszt and the 75th anniversary of the airport, and to honour Hungarian culture and aviation."

    Details of the event series will be announced by Budapest Airport later.