page_title: Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport
section_title: New infrastructure (1980–2000)
hierarchical_section_title: Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport / History / New infrastructure (1980–2000)
caption_attribution_description: English: Boeing 767-200ER Malév Hungarian Airlines Registration code: HA-LHB Magyar: Boeing 767-200ER Malév Hungarian Airlines Lajstromjel: HA-LHB
context_page_description: Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, formerly known as Budapest Ferihegy International Airport and still commonly called just Ferihegy, is the international airport serving the Hungarian capital city of Budapest, and by far the largest of the country's four commercial airports. The airport is located 16 kilometres southeast of the center of Budapest and was renamed in 2011 in honour of the most famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth.
  It offers international connections primarily within Europe, but also to Africa, to the Middle East, to North America and to the Far East. In 2019, the airport handled 16.2 million passengers. The airport is the headquarters and primary hub for Wizz Air and base for Ryanair. In 2012 it experienced a significant drop in aircraft movements and handled cargo, primarily due to the collapse of Malév Hungarian Airlines earlier in the year, hence losing a large portion of connecting passengers. It had been the hub for Malév until the airline's bankruptcy on 3 February 2012.
  In 2015 North-American and Middle-Eastern carriers announced direct flights to Budapest.
context_section_description: In 1980, the number of landing aircraft and passengers served reached 32,642 and 1,780,000, respectively. The growing number of passengers called for more capacity. A new terminal was decided upon. The foundation-stone of the new passenger traffic building to be built was laid down on 16 November 1983. Since 1 November 1985, passengers have been received in Terminal 2, a 24,000-square-meter facility funded with Austrian loans under general contracting. It was used first by Malév aircraft and passengers, and then by those of Lufthansa, Air France, and Swissair. The old terminal continued to receive residual airline traffic under a new name, Terminal 1.
  There was an IED bus attack against Russian Jewish emigrants on the road leading to Ferihegy in the early 1990s. The perpetrators were members of the German Communist organisation Red Army Faction.
  In 1993, Malév launched the airport's first Hungarian overseas flight, to New York. According to the traffic figures forecast for the millennium, the two terminals serving 4 million passengers a year promised to be insufficient. The construction of Terminal 2B was started in 1997. The new building, with more than 30,000 square meters of space, together with a new apron, was opened in 1998, with all foreign airlines moving there. Terminal 2B can receive 3.5 million passengers a year, with its seven gates and five remote stands.
caption: A Boeing 767-200ER of former flag carrier Malév Hungarian Airlines at the airport in 2008
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