Hungary announces €1 billion Budapest Airport expansion with new terminal and rail connection, ETTravelWorld

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The government and private investors will spend 2.5 billion euros to expand Budapest Airport, with construction of a third terminal to begin next year, Hungary’s economy minister said on Monday.

Last year, the Hungarian government took over Central Europe’s main airport from a consortium led by German company AviAlliance, in what nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban described as a “strategic takeover.”

The deal also saw France’s Vinci Airport acquire a 20 percent stake and assume operating duties.

National Economy Minister Marton Nagy said the government wants to start construction of the new terminal of Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport within months.

“For Terminal 3, we will be able to break ground in March 2026,” he said in a press conference.

Nagy added, “The billion-euro investment could take eight years until 2035 in multiple phases, and could increase the airport’s capacity to accommodate up to 40 million (passengers).”

Last year, the airport received 17.6 million passengers, and the government expects passenger traffic to approach 20 million this year.

Nagy also provided details of plans for another €1 billion project to build a high-speed railway line from central Budapest to the airport and another €500 million to develop public roads.

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