Budapest Ferihegy International Airport

Ferihegy control tower

Budapest Ferihegy International Airport (Hungarian: Ferihegyi Nemzetközi Repülőtér or simply Ferihegy) (IATA: BUD, ICAO: LHBP) is the only international airport serving the capital city of Budapest, and the largest among the country's five international airports. The airport offers a wide range of international connections primarily within Europe, but also to Asia, the Middle East, and North America. In 2005, the airport served just over 8 million passengers.

The airport is located  kilometres ( miles) east-southeast of the centre of Budapest, accessible by the major transport artery of Üllői út. At the end of 2005 expressway M0 that connects all major roads and expressways around the city was due to reach the airport providing faster links to other towns.

Ferihegy is large enough to accept the Boeing 747 and Antonov An-124. Most of the traffic comprises Airbus- and Boeing-derived twinjets, flying to and from European cities, and some long-haul Boeing 767s.

Planes landing from the north will fly low over the Kőbánya district, the location of the largest cemetery in Europe. Weather seldom diverts aircraft, when this does happen, planes usually land at Bratislava or Vienna.

On December 8, 2005, a 75% stake in Ferihegy Airport was bought by BAA plc for 464.5 billion HUF (approx. 2.1 billion USD), including the right of operation for 75 years. [1]

On 20 October, 2006, BAA plc announced intentions to sell its stake in Budapest Airport to a consortium led by the German airports group, HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH, subject to the consent of the Hungarian State.[2]

History

Ferihegy was opened on May 7, 1950, built originally for Maszovlet (Magyar-Szovjet Polgári Légiforgalmi Részvénytársaság), the predecessor of MALÉV Hungarian Airlines. A 2,500-metre (8,205-foot) runway (13R-31L), a large hangar, and a terminal were built.

In 1961, the runway was extended to 3,010 metres (9,875 feet).

Over the next few decades improvements were made, but it was in 1985 that the most important additions were made. A modern terminal was opened and a second runway opened (rwy 13L-31R, 3,706 metres (12,162 feet) long).

Today Malév is the largest airline in Budapest. Wizzair is the second largest airline. SkyEurope closed its Budapest hub in 2007. The largest foreign airline is Lufthansa which serves Düsselorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich from Budapest.

Ferihegy Airport from the departure passengers platform outside Terminal 2B

Terminals

Ferihegy airport has three main terminals (1, 2A, 2B) and a small one for general aviation (GAT) flights. A new large air cargo base is about to be built. Transfer between terminals 2A and 2B is convenient enough to be completed on foot. The older Terminal 1, however, is further away and must be reached by bus.

Terminal 1

The newly opened Terminal 1 serves all low-cost airlines. The terminal was renovated in September 2005. The freight functions will be re-located to a newly built cargo base, whose construction has been delayed by a political scandal about public spending that led to contract cancellations.

• easyJet (Berlin-Schönefeld, Dortmund, Geneva, London-Gatwick, London-Luton)
• Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart)
• Jet2.com (Manchester)
• Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo)
• Ryanair (Bremen, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Frankfurt-Hahn, Glasgow-Prestwick, Liverpool [starts October 31, 2007]
• SkyEurope (Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Bourgas, Brussels, Copenhagen, Malaga, Milan-Bergamo, Naples, Nice, Paris-Orly, Rimini, Rome-Fiumicino, Varna, Venice) [all destinations end on October 28, 2007]
• Sterling Airlines (Copenhagen, Stockholm-Arlanda)
• Wizz Air (Bourgas, Brussels-Charleroi, Cluj Napoca (starts November 13, 2007), Corfu, Eindhoven, Girona, Hahn [ends October 26, 2007], Heraklion, Gothenburg-City, London-Luton, Malmo, Milan-Bergamo [starts October 28, 2007], Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Beauvais, Rhodes, Rome-Ciampino, Split, Stockholm-Skavsta, Târgu-Mureş (ends November 12, 2007), Thessaloniki, Varna, Warsaw)

Terminal 2A

Terminal 2A was built for MALÉV Hungarian Airlines, but it now also serves its code-share airline partners as well. This terminal replaced the original terminal in 1985.

• Aer Lingus (Belfast-International [begins 25 February 2008], Dublin)
• Carpatair (Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş, Timişoara)
• Czech Airlines (Prague)
• Malév Hungarian Airlines (Amsterdam, Athens, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beirut, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Bucharest-Otopeni, Cairo, Copenhagen, Cork, Damascus, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Ekaterinburg, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Kraków [ends October 27, 2007], Larnaca, Ljubljana, London-Gatwick, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, New York-JFK, Odessa, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Podgorica, Prague, Priština, Rome-Fiumicino, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Split, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Târgu-Mureş, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Timişoara, Tirana, Toronto-Pearson, Varna, Venice, Warsaw, Zagreb, Zürich)
• Moldavian Airlines (Chişinău)

Terminal 2B

Departure Hall of Terminal 2B

Although connected to Terminal 2A, it is referred to as a separate terminal, opened in 1997. It serves all of the other international flights and airlines not served by Terminal 2A.

• Air Berlin (Hanover, Nuremberg)
• Air Europa (Madrid)
• Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
• Air Malta (Malta)
• Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
• Aerosvit (Kiev-Boryspil)
• Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa)
• Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
• Blue1 (Helsinki)
• British Airways (London-Heathrow)
• Brussels Airlines (Brussels)
• Caspian Airlines (Teheran-Imam Khomeini)
• Clickair (Barcelona)
• Delta Air Lines (New York-JFK)
• EgyptAir (Cairo)
• El Al (Tel Aviv)
• Finnair (Helsinki)
• Hainan Airlines (Beijing)
• LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
• Lufthansa (Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich)
• Meridiana (Florence)
• Rossiya (St. Petersburg)
• Royal Jordanian (Amman)
• Scandinavian Airlines System (Stockholm-Arlanda)
• Smart Wings (Barcelona, Madrid, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague)
• Swiss International Air Lines
  • Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss European Air Lines (Basel/Mulhouse, Zürich)
• TAP Portugal (Lisbon)
• TAROM (Bucharest-Otopeni)
• Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)

General Aviation Terminal

The general aviation terminal is on the left side of Terminal 1. It serves the small and private planes.

An open-air viewing platform for relatives and spotters is at Terminal 2. A fee of 200 forints (US$1) is charged for adults, and 100 Ft for children.

Cargo Airlines

• ABC-Air Hungary
• Cargolux
• European Air Transport (DHL)
• Farnair Hungary
• FedEx
• Lvív Airlines
• TNT Airways
• UPS

Safety and Security

There was an IED bus attack against Russian Jewish emigrants on the road leading to Ferihegy in the early 1990s. However, there have been no terrorist incidents since then.

Ground Transportation

Light Rail

There is no light rail access to Ferihegy, but plans exist to either extend the metro system, or build a new municipal railway perhaps as soon as 2010. According to the statement of the minister of economics, [3], this latter seems to be more probable, even by 2007, and the train would arrive at Budapest's Keleti Railway Station.

Rail

Rail connection is available between Terminal 1 and Budapest's Nyugati Railway Station. The Ferihegy Terminal 1 station is located in front of Terminal 1, 100 metres to the left after leaving the Terminal. A footbridge with elevators helps crossing the main road. All slow trains on the Budapest—Cegléd—Szolnok route stop at the station. Trains depart approximately every 30 minutes to Budapest's Nyugati station. Journey time is 20-25 minutes. Tickets can be purchased within Ferihegy's Terminal 1 from 9am to 10pm. Outside of these hours, tickets can be purchased on the train for no extra charge. The (July 17, 2007) fare is 300Ft (€1.22, $1.68, £0.83).

Buses, mini buses and shuttles

An airport mass transit articulated bus, no. 200, (provided by BKV company) leaves for the city centre every 10-20 minutes. They have been Volvo buses since April 14, 2006, equipped with special room for luggage, and they reach both Terminal 1 and 2. [4] [5] A ticket costs less than one euro. The BKV airport bus runs to the starting station of the M3 underground line (Kőbánya-Kispest – also a mainline railway station). Boarding the M3 trains at Ecseri út or Nagyvárad tér stations are alternatives.

The LRI airport authority operates an 11-passenger airport minibus service that takes passengers to any destination in the city. Tickets can be purchased at the Airport Minibus counter.

Hungarian owned Wizz Air operates shuttle buses between Budapest city centre and terminal 1.

There is also BudShuttle offer transfers between Budapest and Ferihegy Airport with an internet booking system.

Taxis

Taxis are available from the taxi stand, however only one taxi company (Zóna Taxi) is authorized to use the airport cab stands. They operate under a zone-based fixed-rate system. A typical cab fare from Ferihegy to the centre of Budapest is 4000-4500 HUF.

Car Rental

Car rental is also available at the airport from major car rental companies. Nearly all rental companies at Ferihegy also have offices in Budapest proper, thus passengers who are spending time in Budapest can rent in the city and avoid the additional fee charged for renting at the airport.

Amenities and Services

Facilities include ATMs (except within the international transit area, where the passenger must exhange currency), bureaux de change, left luggage, first aid, duty-free shops, child care, post office, a chapel, restaurants, tourist information and hotel reservations. There are facilities for disabled passengers and wheelchairs are available from the airport help desks. A short walk down the long drive from Terminal 2 there is an open-air aircraft museum. Short- and long-term car parks are situated close to the terminal buildings.

The airport has good GSM phone coverage. Free WLAN is provided by Pannon. 230V power outlets are available at some places. The socket type is CEE 7/7 or 7/4 (electrical outlet).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Airport Ferihegy (Budapest)

• Official site
• Ferihegy
• BAA closing in on Hungarian deal (BBC)

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