Amazing! Record-breaking traffic growth at Budapest Airport in 2017

Traffic at Liszt Ferenc International Airport in 2017 grew at an unprecedented pace: 13.1 million passengers used the airport last year, and the volume of air cargo also broke the record with more than 127.000 tons in total. Budapest Airport continued its dynamic development program called BUD2020 earmarking 50 billion HUF (160 m Euro)for upgrading and extending the airport.

• Number of passengers: 13 097 239 (versus 11 441 999 in 2016) – an annual growth rate of 14.5 %
• Cargo volume: 127 145 tons (versus 112 142 tons in 2016) – an annual growth rate of 13.4 %
• Passenger traffic over 1 million per month in 9 consecutive months from April to December
• Busiest month: August, with 1 330 092 passengers
• Highest volume of cargo: November, with 12 149 tons
• Over 50% increase of passenger numbers since 2013

2017 was an excellent year in aviation in all respects. 125 destinations in 45 countries were directly accessible from Budapest with 44 airlines, representing the most colorful offer ever. Not only new flights were launched, but seat capacity was also increased on existing routes. New service providers entered the market, and existing ones introduced larger aircraft or increased their flight frequencies.

Budapest Airport was managing a number of development projects in 2017, including one of the flagship projects of the BUD 2020 development program, the new Pier B. Physical construction of the pier commenced at the beginning of last year, and it is scheduled for completion during the summer season this year.

Next to Terminal 1, two new logistics centers were handed over to TNT and DHL Express.

A thousand new parking spaces were added to airport car parks which now have a combined capacity of 4 700 cars.

After terminal 2A, the number of check-in desks was also increased in T2B where 11 new desks were installed together with a 400-square-meter additional passenger area. The reconstruction also affected the airside area of the terminal, as most of the shops and the passenger flows had to be redesigned there. New equipment of security screening were introduced, including brand-new body scanners.

Areas used by aircraft were also improved: a new taxiway was built, and the pavement was refurbished on Runway 1 on a length of 900 meters.

One of the most modern airport crash-tenders, a new Rosenbauer Panther fire truck was commissioned (with a price tag of HUF 250 million/800.000 euros), joining the already impressive fleet of fire engines at the airport.

Digital services available for passengers were also enhanced last year. Just before Christmas, Budapest Airport launched its free WiFi service with significantly increased capacity, which resulted in a ten-fold (!) increase of its user capacity. In addition, the airport redesigned its website in line with the continuously changing traveling habits and demand for information.

“We are very proud of Budapest belonging to the top league of European airports with regards to growth rate of traffic.

With a remarkable 14.5 % growth in 2017 Budapest Airport is more than twice higher than the EU average.” said Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport. He added, “We also continue our efforts in 2018 and will be offering Hungarian and international passengers high-quality services and several new routes including four North-American flights at the same time during the summer season.”

Button

Sleeping in Airports portal made a list based on visitors’ opinion ranking Europe’s best and worst airports. Hungarian Liszt Ferenc International Airport finished among the better ones, in the midfield. Read more HERE.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Source: Press release