Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport handled more than 6.2 million passengers between June and August 2026, an increase of 13.7% compared with the same period last year.
The airport also recorded 1.96 million passengers in September, supported by an expanded network of 160 destinations and growing demand for flights to North America and Asia. The summer performance marked the busiest June–August period in the airport’s history, with passenger numbers exceeding two million in both July and August.
September traffic reached 1,955,581 passengers, surpassing the summer monthly peaks recorded in previous years. The airport’s summer flight schedule, running from late March to late October, included 160 destinations and 24 new routes.
London leads outbound travel as European routes expand
London remained the most popular destination for passengers departing Budapest during the summer and September, followed by strong demand for Istanbul, Antalya and Frankfurt.
Passenger traffic between Budapest and Spain increased 18.8% year on year, while routes to Greece recorded growth of 10.9%. Traffic to France rose 9.9%, and Italy registered a 9.5% increase. France, Italy and the United Kingdom were the leading markets for inbound passengers.
North American and Asian capacity increases
The return of direct services to Philadelphia and Toronto contributed to an increase of tens of thousands of passengers travelling between Budapest and North America. Flights operated by American Airlines and Air Canada recorded high load factors, according to the airport operator, although specific occupancy percentages were not disclosed.
Asian routes also performed strongly despite significant increases in available capacity. Airlines offered approximately 20,000 additional direct seats on routes to China and 60,000 additional seats to South Korea compared with the previous period.
Airport expands processing capacity during record summer
To accommodate higher passenger volumes, Budapest Airport introduced seven hybrid check-in counters at Terminal 2A, supporting both conventional and self-service baggage processing.
The airport also upgraded eight passenger security lanes. Almost 305,000 bags were processed through self-service baggage drop facilities during the summer, representing a 30% increase compared with the previous year. Despite the record traffic, more than 90% of passengers passed through security screening in less than ten minutes.
Air cargo reaches 320,107 tonnes despite September decline
Cargo operations showed a more mixed performance. Budapest Airport handled 29,761 tonnes of air freight in September, a 19.5% decline compared with the same month in 2025, although volumes increased 8% from August.
The operator linked the slowdown partly to new European Union customs rules affecting low-value e-commerce shipments imported from outside the bloc. The weaker third-quarter performance followed a record June, when the airport handled 42,401 tonnes of cargo.
For the first nine months of 2026, total cargo throughput reached 320,107 tonnes, an increase of 4% year on year. Budapest Airport said it remained the largest air cargo handling airport in Central and Eastern Europe by volume during the period.
