Budapest Airport March Traffic Surpasses One Million

DALLAS — Budapest Airport (BUD) announced that passenger traffic surpassed the one-million mark in March 2023. That's an increase of 33,8% compared to March 2022.

While the March pax traffic is still -9% compared to March 2019, BUD traffic is slowly returning to pre-COVID levels. In Q1 2023, the total passenger number is almost 2,9 million. Surprisingly, cargo traffic decreased by 14.8% compared to March 2022. The total volume of freight was 16.855 tons last month.

The airport had 8,093 aircraft movements last month, which is an increase of 13% compared to 2022. After the new Cargo City opened in 2021, the total amount of cargo was 183 tons that same year.

Concept of terminal 3 with the classic terminal 1 in the background. Photo by Budapest Airport.

A New Terminal in Sight

The airport announced in February that they only need one permit to reopen Terminal 1 for low-cost carriers. It expects the reopening in the Summer of 2024.

But this is just a temporary mission, as the new Terminal 3 project, which will be in front of the old T1, is set to open in 2028. BUD has published the concept stage of the new terminal as seen in the image above.

The construction of a new passenger hall could commence in 2025, adding that the airport operator would like to temporarily reopen Terminal 1 until then, with the addition of a pier.