Plane ticket prices increased significantly in Hungary: here is why

Flying from Hungary to popular European and non-European destinations has become much more expensive in the last few years. But why have ticket prices soared?

According to 24.hu, after 2019, the average price increase concerning return plane ticket prices from Budapest reached 40-60%. In the case of some routes, the increase was HUF 10,000 (EUR 26) between 2022 and 2023.

The trend is similar in the case of every European destination. For example, in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, you could travel to London for HUF 43,000 (EUR 111) on average. Last year, that sum went up to HUF 60,000 (EUR 155). In the case of Amsterdam, the route’s cost increased from HUF 78,000 (EUR 202) to HUF 111,000 (EUR 284). The price increase is even more significant for Transatlantic destinations. For example, in 2019, you could travel to Miami for HUF 205,000 (EUR 530). Last year, that cost HUF 301,000 (EUR 778), so the rise is 50%. The cost of travel to Bangkok doubled during the same period.

Based on the graph 24.hu made using the data of repjegy.hu, there are only two destinations where the average price of plane tickets decreased: Dubai and Istanbul.

The online department leader of repjegy.hu, Zoltán Holczinger, said that the reason behind that trend is not only the departure tax (excess profit tax) of the Hungarian government. Of course, that price is included in the ticket price. However, operation and fuel costs and salaries increased drastically between 2019 and 2023. There are airlines that did not reopen routes from Budapest because of the departure tax.

Excess profit tax did not help the business

Due to the excess profit tax (departure tax in the case of airlines), the average price rise to a European destination was between HUF 5,400 and 10,200 (EUR 14-26). It depends on the plane’s emission.

Ticket prices increased by at least HUF 18,000 (EUR 46) to the most popular destinations from Budapest between 2019 and 2023. Those are Rome, Barcelona, London and Paris. That is much above the average excess profit tax the government collects.

Mr Holczinger said that air travel remained popular from Hungary, and people tend to book their flights in advance.

Chaos-like situations will remain with us because the airlines could not regain their pre-pandemic employment level. Now, they try to automate processes e.g. baggage handling.

Budapest Airport concluded 2023 with 1,600 employees, 200 more than in 2019. They added that 2/3rd of the flights departed according to their scheduled time plus 15 minutes.

In 2023, London was the most popular route from Budapest. The second place went to Barcelona, the third to Rome. Demand grew for Mediterranean destinations the most (Larnaca, Napoli, Athens).

The main goal of Budapest Airport is to restart its Transatlantic flights and establish direct connections to South China and India.

Read also:

• Tourism agency head shared when Transatlantic flights could return to Budapest – Read more in THIS article
• Wizz Air suspends 21 flights in this European country – Read more HERE