Formerly known as Ferihegy Airport, BUD, by its official name Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, is a large hub in Central Europe. You may remember it as being the base of the now-defunct Malev. Currently it is base for both WizzAir and Rynair.

Important update for those traveling with drones

As per the FAQ section on the airport’s page: “Transportation of drones on board aircraft is ensured for all passengers, in hold baggage.”

How to get to Budapest Airport:

There is one thing that makes Budapest a great place to transit through and visit: the public transportation. From Budapest Keleti pu, take Metro Line 2 (Red) to Deak F. Ter stop (2 stops). Then change to Metro Line 3 (Blue) all the way to the last stop Kobanya-Kispest, then switch to bus 200E. That’s during the day (4:10 a.m. to 11:36 p.m.). During the night you can use night buses . Details here.

Important: day travel cards can be used on 200E as long as they are during their validity hours!

Allow about 1h to get to the airport. It may take less when the traffic is not heavy.

Important update as of Nov 4, 2017:

As of Nov 4, 2017, M3 (blue) line is under repairs. On workdays between 4:30 am and 8:30 pm, as well as every weekday after 8:30 pm and during the entire weekend, M3 is replaced by buses between Lehel ter abd Ujpest – Kozpont stations.

An alternative to M3+ 200E bus is the newly introduced Shuttle bus 100E. It is only available with an Airport shuttle bus single ticket which costs 900 HUF one way per person. It departs from Deak Ferenc ter and you can find more information on the BKK website.

Our experience

While getting TO the airport was easy, finding security check while IN the airport wasn’t. We had to ask someone where the security check was and then to figure out which line went to Terminal 2B (we flew within Schengen)

Your boarding pass may say Terminal 2A or 2B. Just a note: it doesn’t matter. Once you pass through security check – after you check in if you have to leave any checked luggage or haven’t checked it online – you’ll get to a waiting area from where you either turn right for boarding gates A or left for boarding gates B.

Security check was super ok, though. Compared to the other airports we’ve flown from, this was just as nice as on London Luton (LTN). Make sure that you only pack approved items, of course. Take out the laptop / tablet from the bag, as well as the DSLR with the lenses taken off.

There was free wi-fi and I managed to get it to work on the tablet (you need to provide a name and email to use it). There’s a food court if you want to it, enjoy a coffee or something sweet. And a lovely “viewing area” where you can spot planes. Plus , of course, there are toilets to use.

All in all, it is not a very easy-to-figure out airport, but the security check wasn’t a problem and we didn’t exactly get bored while we waited for our slightly delayed (15 min) flight to leave for Naples.

Our rating

Note: the article has been written in 2014 and updated in July 2017. Updated and republished in Nov 2017.