A EUROPEAN airport will soon have the capacity to host more passengers and holidaymakers.
Plans to add a new terminal to Budapest Airport in Hungary are set to go ahead, and will cost more than €2bn (£1.6bn).
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The airport hopes to be able to serve at least 10 million more people every year in the near future, with the new terminal a big part of that project.
The plans have been in place for a while, but the Hungarian government is now able to push ahead with construction at Ferenc Liszt Airport after it went back under majority state ownership.
Last month Corvinus, an investment fund owned and managed by the Hungarian state, took an 80 per cent stake in the airport.
The rest is owned by French infrastructure group, Vinci Airports who are the the airport’s operator.
The country’s economic development minister Márton Nagy said at a press conference earlier this month that the third terminal would be built by 2032.
New transport connections will also be constructed as part of the project, to minimise congestion to and from the airport, created by the extra passengers.
According to Aviation Week, the minister said in a speech: “The airport’s future vision is to increase passenger numbers from the current 15 million to 18 million by 2028 and almost 20 million by 2030.
“If the third terminal is built and there is no infrastructure development behind it, then we have not really achieved anything.”
He then added that passenger capacity is expected to rise to 25 million people per year by 2040, although it could be even more with Nagy describing that as “a conservative estimate.”
The main aim of increasing the airport’s capacity by so much is to increase tourism, while also growing transit traffic, and further developing Budapest as a cargo hub.
In addition to the brand new terminal, the plans also include the relaunching of flights from the existing Terminal 1 building, which has not hosted planes since 2012.
That will take a lot less time and work, and the airport’s chiefs hope that will be operational again by 2026.
The desire for expansion at Budapest comes from a steady increase in the number of passengers flying to and from the travel hub over the last few years.
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“Travellers used to be able to roll over up to nine unused months from their old passport onto a new one.
“But post-Brexit, anyone wanting to travel to the EU can no longer rely on those extra months.
“In order to travel to the EU, all passports must be no more than 10 years old on the day you arrive in your European destination.
“And you’ll need at least three months on your passport on the day you head back to the UK.
“Figures have shown up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than 10 years old.
“The 10-year rule only applies to countries in the European Union but every country may have different rules on what is accepted – some countries like South Africa, for example, insist you have at least six months left on your passport when you travel and a full clear page.”
Under its previous ownership, passenger traffic increased from 8.4 million people in 2008 to 16.2 million in 2019.
This was mainly due to Wizz Air and Ryanair‘s increased routes to the city.
This year, estimates predict that more passengers than ever before will pass through Budapest Airport, with as many as 17 million set to jet in and out of the Hungarian capital.
Brits are able to fly there very affordably, with several different budget airlines offering routes from the UK.
Wizz Air and Ryanair offer the most affordable flights at the moment, ranging from £44-53 return.
Once there, accommodation isn’t too costly at all either, with a room for two available from £28.
Meanwhile, this airport is set to open right on the coast in a holiday hotspot this summer.
And this airport is planning to build a brand new pier to increase the number of flights.
