Changes to come to Budapest Airport! – new investments and innovations

After the pandemic-infused hardships, Budapest Airport bounced back and tried to minimalize cancellations and delays even in the midst of the air chaos. Now, the airport is preparing for innovations and new investments. Achieving net zero emissions by 2035 is also part of the ambitious plans.

Chris Dinsdale, CEO of Budapest Airport gave an interview to Portfolio where he talked about the most important changes at the airport.

Budapest Airport is planning to reopen Terminal 1 in 2024

Tourism is expected to continue to increase in the coming years. Therefore, the Hungarian airport has to have constant progress and continuous development. “We do not want the increase in passenger numbers to be at the expense of quality, so we want to reopen Terminal 1 in 2024, which will receive passengers until Terminal 3 is completed.” – said Chris Dinsdale. They are only waiting for the government’s approval regarding the construction permit. The 3rd Terminal investment has already started with conducting studies.

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Sustainability is the central theme of all the investments

According to the CEO of Budapest Airport, sustainability is a key element of the investments. For example, they have started preparing the studies necessary for the development of the airport’s geothermal heating system. They would like to replace the gas boilers with this technology if possible. Furthermore, the planning of a 7.5 MW solar park is underway. The airport’s goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2035 at the latest. They also undertook to achieve the highest ACI 4+ rating in terms of emissions by the end of 2023. In addition, waste management is outstanding, recycling is 70 percent, which is double the Hungarian average.

How is Budapest airport’s traffic doing?

Although coronavirus has caused difficulties for airports, Budapest Airport is now content with the airport traffic. As we have written before, passenger numbers were close to 1.3 m in July. In the summer months, the airport reached 80 percent of the pre-epidemic level, and it expects 70-75 percent for the whole year. “The number of destinations available from Budapest is almost the same compared to the pre-Covid period, with the exception of the Ukrainian and Russian destinations that were canceled due to the war in Ukraine, and in the case of long-haul flights – for example, the United States, Canada, China – you still have to wait for the return.” – said Chris Dinsdale.

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Largest ever noise insulation programme

Budapest Airport is launching a substantial noise insulation programme in September. In recent years, 1,500 property owners have been able to take advantage of the opportunities available in the noise protection programme.  Now, they are extending this to another 2,500 households. In addition, for the first time, the owners of some properties in Kőbánya can also participate in the programme. – reports napi.hu.

Source: portfolio.hu, napi.hu