Best of Budapest & Hungary

Budapest Airport, part of the VINCI Airports network, is launching its winter schedule  with record seat capacity. Exciting new destinations and increased frequencies will expand travel opportunities and stimulate the growth in inbound tourism. Capitalizing on Hungary’s attractiveness, Budapest Airport continues its diversification-based airline development strategy, supported by VINCI Airports’ extensive airline partner network.

    The winter season, which begins at the end of October, will see new routes and increased frequencies on existing routes at Ferenc Liszt International Airport. Passengers can choose from seven new aerial connections in the new schedule; easyJet is increasing the number of French destinations with two new routes to Bordeaux and Nantes, Jet2.com is launching new flights to Newcastle and East Midlands, Ryanair to Marrakesh, Wizz Air to Turin and Tallinn. SAS Scandinavian Airlines is expanding its Budapest-Copenhagen route, launched this year; it will operate daily flights in November, December and March, and at least five flights a week during the rest of the season.

    Compared to the 2024 winter schedule, nearly thirty additional routes will be available from Budapest, bringing the total to 182. This will not only enhance travel opportunities for Hungarian citizens, but will also further increase inbound passenger traffic, already extremely dynamic with more than one million additional foreign air passengers from January to August in 2025 than in the same period last year.

    Several frequency increases will also develop further the accessibility of popular destinations, thanks to which Budapest Airport expects strong passenger traffic in the coming travel season.

    In total, Budapest Airport will offer passengers 8.9 million seats in this year’s winter schedule, 12.5% more than in the previous winter season.

    Similar expectations apply to next summer’s schedule; American Airlines will return to the network with a direct Budapest-Philadelphia connection and Air Canada will also resume its previously popular Budapest-Toronto service. In 2026, Condor will debut in Budapest as a completely new airline, strengthening the Frankfurt route with three daily flights, and thanks to the new Hungarian-Chinese bilateral aviation agreement, the number of weekly flights between China and Hungary can also increase.

    “Budapest Airport is entering a bold new chapter of diversified growth, by utilizing off-peak capacity and welcoming new airlines and destinations,” said Markus Klaushofer, chief commercial officer for Budapest Airport. “We are thrilled to welcome brand new services from our new and existing airlines, thanks to our close partnerships with them. With a record-setting winter season ahead, fueled by both inbound and outbound tourism demand and a major long-haul transatlantic development on the horizon, we are more committed than ever to keep Budapest Airport’s position as the number 1 airport in the Central Eastern European region.”