Budapest Airport precedes Vienna, London-Luton, Berlin concerning passenger satisfaction

The quality of service at Ferenc Liszt International Airport has significantly improved over the past five years, according to people traveling from Budapest Airport. The airport is clean, spacious, bright, human-scale and safe; it also holds its own internationally, according to a representative survey conducted by independent research organization GKID.

Ferenc Liszt International Airport has undergone a major transformation over the past four years: Budapest Airport has implemented a series of developments worth 100 billion HUF, based on a consistent strategy focusing on quality and passenger experience. Thanks to the work of our community, Budapest Airport was voted the best airport in Europe in 2022, and the improvement in quality is also confirmed by other international recognitions and the airport’s 4-star rating. Budapest Airport continuously measures the impressions of travelers and the general public about the airport and it collects passenger feedback. As a part of this process GKID Research & Consulting conducted a representative reputation survey among a sample of 6,000 people.

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Those who use the airport like its services

Overall, the results of the survey confirm the developments and professional accolades of recent years, with respondents saying that Budapest Airport stands up to international comparison in terms of service quality, as more than 90 percent of them consider it to be better or at least at the same level as other international airports.

There is a tendency for recent airport users to have a higher level of satisfaction than those who traveled years ago ­– so the more recent the experience, the more positive the perception of the airport. Among those who have used the airport in the last year, almost twice as many people believe that a lot of developments have been made at the airport in the last half decade, than among those who flew from Budapest 3-5 years ago. Almost the same distribution can be observed for the quality of passenger services. More than two thirds of those who flew in the year prior to the survey would recommend the airport’s services to others, an improvement compared to those who flew 3-5 years ago, indicating an increasing level of service.

Pleasant environment, professional staff

Most respondents cited clean, spacious, bright, human-scale and safe as the most characteristic features of the airport. It was also frequently mentioned that it is easy to find everything, the atmosphere is comfortable and pleasant, the building is modern and stylish, the design is practical, information and assistance is provided as required, and the airport is easily accessible by car.

The most notable aspect of airport services was the professionalism of the staff: respondents found the airport staff to be friendly, helpful and professional during work with adequate foreign language knowledge.

According to the respondents, Budapest Airport is safe (95%), modern (84%), technologically advanced (75%) and offers fast passenger screening (70%). The majority of respondents feel that the airport is their own, they associate it with Hungary and the pleasure of traveling. 83% of respondents believe that Ferenc Liszt International Airport is a worthy representative of Hungarian culture (83%).

Hungarians call for further infrastructure expansion

Railway access to the airport was most frequently mentioned by respondents as an area for improvement. In addition, the responses indicate that there is a need to expand the airport’s capacity. They consider the latter necessary partly to support tourism and partly to reduce the occupancy rate of Terminal 2 – which is closely linked to maintaining the current level of quality. A majority supports the reopening of Terminal 1.

The latest results of the quarterly international passenger satisfaction survey (ASQ – Airport Service Quality) are also in line with the conclusions of the research carried out by GKID. Based on passenger ratings, the overall level of satisfaction with the airport reached 4.19 on a scale of 5, surpassing the same period in the record year of 2019, as well as last year’s rating. This ranks Ferenc Liszt International Airport fifth out of 20 competing airports in terms of overall satisfaction, ahead of airports such as Vienna, Berlin and London Luton, as well as regional competitors Krakow and Warsaw.

Based on passenger feedback, Ferenc Liszt International Airport was ranked the best European airport in 2022 among airports with 15-25 million passengers. Budapest Airport also holds the title of best airport in the region, as recognized by Skytrax in 10 consecutive years, most recently in 2023, also based on passenger ratings. The international aviation research organization also upgraded the airport’s rating from three to four stars in 2023, based on a review of five hundred performance indicators covering all passenger services.

The survey was conducted by GKID Research & Consulting Kft.. Data was collected in April 2023 among internet users aged 18 and above, with a representative sample by gender, age and place of residence. The evaluated sample size is 5,992 people.