FINN
Keith Mwanalushi
03 June 2024
Budapest Airport (BUD) in Hungary is planning for a surge in summer travel and airlines are making every effort to bring new capacity and additional frequencies to meet the projected demand.
In 2023, BUD passenger numbers reached 14.7 million – a 91% return to pre-pandemic levels and full post-pandemic recovery is expected by the end of the year. Operators are ramping up schedules and launching several new routes in a bid to meet high season demand.
The airport launched a major development programme in spring 2019, and over the past five years, the value of airport developments has exceeded 130 billion HUF (Euro337million).
Ritter reports that in the last few years, significant resources have been invested in developing existing infrastructure in the terminals, like increasing security screening capacity, introducing self-bag drop-off counters, adding more check-in counters and parking capacity. A second airport hotel, in front of the terminal, is also being built with a target completion in 2025, he reveals.
Additionally, there are plans to build a new Terminal 3 and Ritter believes it will be one of the largest construction projects in the history of BUD, in terms of volume and complexity, and it will enable future growth for the long term.
[Read more: Summer predictions put BUD on a high (wearefinn.com)]
