Check out the plans for Terminal 1 of Budapest Airport!

Terminal 1, which has been closed for nine years, will remain in operation until the construction of the newest one, Terminal 3, ends. The latter will be open to passengers in 2028 at the earliest.

Budapest Airport, Terminal 1

Source: Facebook/Budapest Airport

According to the interview airportal.hu conducted with Chris Dinsdale, the CEO of Budapest Airport, Terminal 1 will reopen in 2024, according to plans. As we can read in hvg.hu’s article, according to Dinsdale, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak is becoming less noticeable at Budapest Airport. What is more, air traffic is expected to return to 2019 levels by 2024 and then continue to grow.

For this year, Dinsdale expects passenger traffic to be around 75% of their record year in 2019, but this could be pushed up or down slightly depending on what happens in Ukraine and the wider economy.

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The CEO told airportal.hu that they have been preparing for the increase in passenger numbers for months, hiring new people to strengthen the operation of Terminal 2, and working on new security corridors and check-in desks.

Passengers

“I would note that in the three weeks since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, with the exception of Ukrainian and Russian destinations, we have not yet seen a drop in passenger traffic,”

said Dinsdale.

The reopening of Terminal 1 is planned for the summer of 2024 to allow for unhindered growth in passenger numbers. Plans to create a new pier on the airside to allow pedestrian access is currently being approved. This would increase the terminal’s current 24,000 square metres by 7,000 square metres and would allow it to handle almost 5 million passengers a year.

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Based on what Dinsdale and the staff of the airport know at the moment, they are positive they can expect a busy summer season.

“We have adapted certain processes at the airport in order to serve an average of 40,000 passengers a day smoothly and comfortably,”

Dinsdale told airportal.hu.

Green plans

Source: Facebook/Budapest Airport

According to hvg.hu, the CEO also said that they want to be net-zero emitters by 2035 at the latest, including the construction of an 8-megawatt solar farm, which would make 66% of the electricity used at Budapest Airport green.

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