A total of 538,074 travellers used Budapest Airport in July, 34% of the traffic for the same month in the record-breaking, pre-Covid year of 2019. The number also represents 89% of the whole figure for January-June 2021, signalling that the recovery of the local tourist industry is well under way.
The increase in passenger traffic is also reflected in the daily passenger numbers. While in the first third of the year, Budapest Airport was handling an average of 2-3,000 travellers per day, in June this was close to 10,000, and by July, 18,000.
This dynamic recovery should be further strengthened by the easing of travel restrictions. In addition to the digital Covid certificate for the Schengen zone – see details here – a government ruling came into in force on 7 August, allowing visitors from the EU, UK, US, Canada, Israel, Japan, Russia, China and the UAE, among others, to enter Hungary without quarantine provided they have taken a negative PCR test within 72 hours of travel.
Greater predictability in air travel has also allowed key airlines to announce new routes, such as Ryanair’s from Shannon in Ireland, available from 1 November. Travellers from Budapest currently have a choice of 100 destinations, expected to grow to 120 in the coming months.
