The sale transaction is a record size by Central European standards.Continue reading
Liszt Ferenc International Airport is in peak form, with passenger traffic up by nearly 20 percent and cargo traffic up by 50 percent until August, said Máté Lóga, State Secretary for Economic Strategy, Industry, Financial Resource and Macroeconomic Analysis.
Máté Lóga, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Budapest Airport Zrt., said that the performance of Liszt Ferenc International Airport shows explosive growth in 2024. In the first eight months of the year, passenger traffic grew by 18.6 percent and cargo traffic by 49.7 percent, putting Budapest Airport on track to break all previous records. The figures show that the tourist attractiveness of Hungary and Budapest is steadily growing, and that Hungarians are also traveling abroad in increasing numbers, he noted in a statement.
In the first eight months of this year, passenger traffic at Liszt Ferenc International Airport reached 11.4 million, up 18.6 percent on the same period last year. The airport’s cargo traffic grew even faster, by 49.7 percent to over 184,000 tons.
The increase in performance is not due to a single month or event, but this year’s development is consistent with the trend of total passenger traffic and total arrivals in each month exceeding the figures seen last year.
The statement recalls that after over a year of intense negotiations, the sale and purchase agreement of Budapest Airport Zrt. was signed on June 6, 2024, which returned the airport to national majority ownership after nearly 20 years.
The Hungarian state acquired an 80 percent stake in Budapest Airport Zrt., while the French co-investor VINCI, responsible for its operation, acquired a 20 percent stake.
Máté Lóga emphasized that the airport is of strategic importance not only for passenger transport and tourism, but also for cargo transport, and is a key economic hub.
The increase in performance seen so far in 2024 shows that with the majority state ownership, the airport’s performance has continued to grow, and never before has the airport’s traffic been as high as it was in August this year.
The new owners and the operator aim to improve this performance even further, and to this end, major improvements to the airport could be launched in the coming years, paving the way for even more dynamic growth. The aim is to reach 20 million passengers by 2030 and 25 million by 2040, the statement reads.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Budapest Airport