Budapest Airport announces new routes amid strike concerns
Budapest Airport has recently announced several new flight routes as part of its diversification strategy to support continuous passenger growth. However, this positive development is overshadowed by potential strike actions due to ongoing wage disputes.
New flight routes from Budapest Airport
According to Mmonline, the airport has announced six new flight routes since the beginning of the year, expanding both to new and existing destinations. Jet2.com will launch new routes to East Midlands and Newcastle in October, primarily supporting inbound tourism. This brings Jet2.com’s total routes between Budapest and the UK to six this winter season.
EasyJet is expanding its offerings with new direct, low-cost flights to Bordeaux and Nantes in the 2025 winter schedule. In early June, Jazeera Airways will begin flights to Kuwait City, strengthening inbound tourism and offering connections to India and South Asia. Kuwait becomes the seventh Middle Eastern destination directly accessible from Budapest. Additionally, SCAT Airlines will introduce twice-weekly flights between Budapest and Shymkent, Kazakhstan, starting in May.
Budapest Airport is also in negotiations for long-haul routes, particularly to the United States and Canada, as well as exploring connections to Southeast Asian destinations.
Potential strike action
Despite these positive developments, the airport faces potential labor unrest. The Airport Workers’ and Service Providers’ Union has failed to reach an agreement with Budapest Airport Plc. on wage increases for 2025, as we reported HERE. The airport management has offered a 4% wage increase, matching the inflation rate, for most physical workers. However, union representatives argue that this increase would cost the employer only a few HUF hundred million for 2025, contrasting it with the airport’s net profit of about HUF 30 billion (EUR 75 million) in 2023.
While official strike negotiations have not yet begun, sources suggest that the union has started internal preparations for potential strike action. A decision on whether to proceed with the strike is expected in the first week of March, Világgazdaság reports.
The airport has been breaking passenger and cargo traffic records, with 17.6 million passengers and 300,000 tons of cargo in the previous year. January 2025 saw a record 1.293 million passengers, a 17.5% increase from the previous year.
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