Maccabi, Formula 1, and festivals: the summit of the summer peak at the airport
Two major sport events at the end of July and the beginning of August and several festivals are about to start in Hungary. In preparation for the busiest days of the year, Liszt Ferenc International Airport has strengthened its terminal operations, security screening, car park management, and cleaning services. Due to increased traffic, the airport operator is asking passengers to come to the airport earlier than usual.
The European Maccabi Games will start on 29 July and will last until 7 August in Budapest, the 2019 European Capital of Sport.
The program lasting for almost one and a half weeks is the biggest Jewish sport and cultural event of the continent, and, as such, the biggest sport event in Hungary this year. Athletes, teams, performers, and fans arrive days before the start of the Games, most of them by plane, which requires a special organizing effort by the airport and the authorities in view of the already busy summer period.
On the same week, the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix will also be held, attracting tens of thousands of fans to Hungary days before the race weekend.
At the same time, private jet traffic also peaks at the airport as organizers, teams, and drivers alike arrive at the general aviation terminal, to depart soon after the race on Sunday.
For a long time, the weekend of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix was the only real peak with record traffic in the summer, but thanks to numerous music festivals our summer peak looks more like a plateau now, as for instance Sziget Festival and the Ozora festival bring tens of thousands of mostly young people to Hungary from all corners of Europe.
Over the next few weeks, the airport will frequently handle more than fifty thousand passengers per day, and therefore Budapest Airport is asking passengers to come to the airport earlier than usual.
In an effort to ensure faster service to passengers, Budapest Airport can rely on a number of developments this year: early baggage drop-off (several hours before departure), enhanced queue management, displaying of waiting times, and additional new passenger security screening lanes are operated now in order to make the process as smooth as possible. Budapest Airport is working together with all authorities concerned to serve all visitors headed for sport events and festivals.
Latest flight information is continuously offered to passengers on the website and the mobile application of Budapest Airport.
Source: bud.hu