Twin-runway airport operations again at Budapest Airport

According to Budapest Airport, one day before the scheduled deadline, Runway 1 (13R/31L) of Liszt Ferenc International Airport was re-opened for traffic. The first aircraft to take off from the new concrete was an Emirates Boeing 777-300 type aircraft departing to Dubai. The handover of Runway 1 was made urgent by the need to meet the demand of increased traffic in the summer peak more safely and more comfortably.

The concrete pavement of Runway 1 had to be replaced on an area of five football fields combined, on a length of 1400 meters in total.

In the course of 110 days of refurbishment works, no less than 8 500 cubic meters of concrete and close to 300 kilometers of electric cables were laid, and the manholes connected with the runway were refurbished too.

Utilizing the period of runway closure from 12 March, Budapest Airport professionals also installed a new instrument landing system (ILS) at the runway end towards Vecsés (31L), as a result of which aircraft will be able to land more safely in low visibility conditions (fog, precipitation, nighttime). Thanks to the new system, Liszt Ferenc International Airport will be serving airlines with state-of-the-art radio navigation systems.

The total cost of runway refurbishment amounted to HUF 2.1 billion (EUR 6.5 million), financed by Budapest Airport from its own resources.

Due to the coordinated work effort and favorable weather conditions, the refurbished runway was handed back to traffic Friday afternoon, one day before the original deadline of 30 June. Previously, several authorities and other organizations including the Airport Police Directorate and the Aviation Authority were involved in the technical handover, safety and security inspection of the runway.

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“We are proud and satisfied to return Runway 1 to aircraft again after general contractor KÉSZ and its team completed their high-quality work. Earlier they built SkyCourt for us, and they continue to work on the completion of Pier B, meeting the complex requirements in the airport environment,” said Stephan Schattney, chief technical officer of Budapest Airport, pointing out that he hopes the expected useful life of Runway 1 is now extended by several decades.

In an average year, 52% of take-offs and landings are performed on Runway 1 which was extended to its current length of 3000 meters back in 1958 and it was reconstructed with new concrete in 1986. A 900-meter stretch of the runway towards Vecsés was refurbished by Budapest Airport last year. The single-runway operation lasting for three and a half months also required an additional effort from air traffic control: in the summer peak, in particular, the so-called ATC tower controllers and terminal approach controllers had to handle a significantly increased workload. The professionals of HungaroControl ensured the undisturbed flow of air traffic at a high professional standard, without causing significant delays.