Flights to and from Budapest during the coronavirus

While more than 50,000 flights were flying above Europe every day one year ago, that number of flights has been lowered to almost 10% because of the coronavirus. But, there are still 5000 flights in the air daily, and some of them fly to and from Budapest.

Budapest Airport during the coronavirus

Before you read on, do not forget that only Hungarians and people with a work permit in Hungary are allowed to enter the country. So, even though there is a flight to Budapest from your city, you will not actually be allowed to enter the country, unless you are a Hungarian citizen with a Hungarian passport, or if you have a residence permit/work permit in Hungary.

But, which are those flights and cities still connected with Budapest?

Based on information on the website of Budapest Airport, there are still daily flights connecting Budapest with the following cities:

  • Minsk (Belavia Airlines)
  • Stockholm (Wizz Air)
  • Basel (Wizz Air)
  • Eindhoven (Wizz Air)
  • London (Wizz Air)
  • Dortmund (Wizz Air)
  • Barcelona (Wizz Air)
  • Warsaw (LOT)

People who come to Hungary from abroad are to stay in a 14-day quarantine after arrival to Budapest and Hungary.

If you want more information about the coronavirus in Budapest, check this article. Would you rather see some pictures of empty tourist attractions in Budapest? Find all the information you need here at hungarybudapestguide.com.

New hand luggage policy from Wizz Air

Hand Luggage rules for Wizz AirIt has only been a matter of time before this would come, and here it is. New rules concerning hand luggage, making the airlines able to make you pay more for the luggage you bring with you. The question is only when RyanAir, EasyJet and the rest of the low cost airlines follow Wizz Air’s example. But what are the new luggage, or let us say hand luggage policy from Wizz Air about? As of know when you do booking you can get one hand luggage for free, but the max size is 42x32x25cm, which is small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. Until now the size has been 55cmx40cmx20cm.

For larger hand luggage, with size up to 56x45x25cm you will now have to pay, and the price is 9 GBP or 10 Euro. This is of course if you book it as your order your flight online.

Here comes the official information from the Wizz Air homepage: (source)

Beginning October 04th, passengers booking Wizz Air seats* for travel from October 24th onwards can travel with a free small cabin bag (up to 42x32x25cm) or pay a ₤9 online fee to bring a large cabin bag (up to 56x45x25cm) on board. Goods purchased at the airport after security (an important source of revenue for Wizz Air’s 81 airport partners) will continue to be allowed in the cabin for free. This new policy does not apply to bookings made before October 04th or for flights departing before October 24th, except on the trial route London-Katowice where this policy already applies. Wizz Air believes this new ₤9 large cabin bag online fee will incentivize passengers to bring smaller bags on board the aircraft while only those choosing to bring large bags will pay for it. For new bookings on flights departing from 24th October, all Wizz Air fares will be discounted by ₤4.5 ** to share the expected cost savings with our passengers.

New cabin baggage policy from 04 October

Cabin Baggage TypeSize (volume)ExamplesFee
Small cabin bagUp   to 42x32x25cm; (30 L)handbag,   small backpack, laptop bag, (must fit under the seat)FREE
Large cabin bagLarger   than small cabin bag and up to 56x45x25cm; (60 L)trolley   bags

 

₤9 (online)

Cabin baggage   policy: 1 small cabin bag OR 1 large cabin bag per pax. Goods purchased at   the airport after security will also be allowed in the cabin for free!

 

Michael Powell, CFO of Wizz Air, said:“When it comes to low fares Wizz Air knows no half measures! Wizz Air is announcing its new and innovative cabin baggage policy after a successful trial confirmed that more onboard space and cost savings are achieved when passengers bring less large bags into the cabin. With the vast majority of passengers willing to bring smaller bags on board we are now the first European carrier to eliminate a chronic problem in the airline industry faced by all airlines, but, even more important for consumers, Wizz Air is again pioneering in delivering lower fares by passing on the cost savings in the form of discounted fares for all passengers. We leave it for high fare airlines to tackle their costs by raising fares and levying unavoidable fuel surcharges while Wizz Air passengers will continue to pay only for the services they use. Today we encourage our passengers to travel smart and bring only a small bag on board. To pass on the expected cost savings we are immediately discounting by ₤4.5 all fares available for booking under the new cabin bag policy at wizzair.com.”

 

New flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv and Kiev

Wizz Air is expanding their network and from December 2012 they will fly to two new destinations from Budapest, Kiev and Tel Aviv. Wizz Air has for a long time had Kiev in their network, but it is very interesting and really cool that the capital of Ukraine will be available with Wizz Air flights, much better than the slow trains lasting 12-13 hours.

Flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv
Flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv and Kiev

Even more interesting is the fact that Wizz Air will start flying between Budapest and Tel Aviv. For a long time this has been a very expensive route to travel as El Al Israel Airlines has been the only company traveling this distance. Now with Wizz Air entering into this market the travelers will hopefully be the winners, and it will turn much easier for Israelis to visit Budapest and Hungary and for Hungarians to visit the Holy Land of Israel.

Both destinations are supposed to be available from December on, so why not take a pre-Christmas trip to Israel to visit Bethlehem or maybe just to walk around and celebrate Christmas in summer temperatures (almost)?

The flights time from Budapest Airport to airport in Tel Aviv is about 3 hours.

More flights to Lisbon from Budapest

Flying from Budapest
Flying from Budapest

Since the bankruptcy of Malev other companies are getting more and more popular. We all know that RyanAir launched flights to 32 destinations from Budapest after Malev went down, and several other companies also launch new routes. Earlier today I read that WizzAir will launch two new routes from Debrecen to Milan and to Eindhoven (in addition to their existing route from Debrecen to London Luton). From the official web page of Budapest Airport we also got the information today that Tap Portugal will add even more flights to their existing route between Budapest and Lisbon. Last year the company brought more than 50,000 passengers on this line and this year they will hopefully transport even more people with even more flights added. This means that there will be two flights leaving every Saturday from Budapest to Lisbon, instead of one earlier.

Not long ago someone asked us whether it is possible to fly directly from Budapest to Paphos in Cyprus, this beauty of a city where the summer lasts for around 8 months a year. But, unfortunately we can not help out with flights to Paphos, at least not direct ones. But, if you look around, it is possible to fly with KLM to Amsterdam, and there you can change flights and fly on to Paphos.

Earlier Malév had a route to Cyprus, but it was not to Paphos either, so that would not help out under any circumstances. But, if you would rather visit Israel instead, then the amount of flights between Budapest and Tel Aviv was raised earlier this week, so it looks like it will get easier to visit Israel as well! Good luck with your flight tickets and have a nice holiday!

Ferihegy 1 to close down

Ferihegy 1, not long ago renamed to Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal 1, will close down probably by the end of April. Since the Hungarian Airline Malév turned bankrupt in the start of February 2012 there has been lots of empty space on Terminal 2, and due to this all traffic currently running on Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal 1 will be moved over to Terminal 2 by the end of April 2012.

Just some days after Malév turned bankrupt RyanAir launched flights to more than 30 destinations from Budapest, and since then WizzAir has also increased their amount of flights from Budapest. Besides this Volotea will also launch a new direct flight between Budapest and Venice, so things are happening. But, still, the drastic change in amount of flights and passengers still force the managament at Liszt Ferenc International Airport to close down terminal 1 and move all traffic to terminal 2.

Considering the fact that the new Sky Court opened in the autumn of 2011, which was a big investment, improving the shopping, restaurant and all facilities at the Terminal 2, this will also serve as a great bonus for all the people who have been using Terminal 1 so far, which is utterly small and incredibly boring with nothing to do between the time of check-in and take-off. Therefore for people coming with no-frills airlines, this is a bonus. For those coming with RyanAir arrivals has anyway been to Terminal 2, but for the rest coming with WizzAir, EasyJet, AirBerlin, Norwegian and so on, this is a good stuff.

Still for the sake of tourism in Hungary we hope that the amount of passengers and travellers coming to Budapest and Hungary will increase rapidly, and that the management of Budapest Airport will be forced to open Terminal 1 again within shortly due to the large amounts of people interested in our beautiful nation. RyanAir proudly claim that they will bring 2 million passengers to and from Hungary already in their first year, and if it should turn out that way, it might be that terminal 1 will have be opened up again already in 2013!

Ferihegy 1 behind bars
Ferihegy 1 will be closed down by the end of April

10 new WizzAir routes from Budapest

Wizz Air routes from Budapest
New Wizz Air routes from Budapest

Not long ago Ryanair announced 31 new routes from Budapest, and now Wizz Air launch 10 new routes from Budapest. Wizz Air had originally announced a new flight to Bucharest, but in addition to this they now add nine more flights. The new Wizz Air destinations are Malaga, Cluj Napoca, Bucharest, Warsaw, Sofia, Larnaca, Heraklion, Zakynthos, Rhodes and Thessaloniki. In addition Wizz Air hopes for permission to open new routes to Kiev, Tel Aviv and Moscow within shortly.

For more information about these routes and booking, visit Wizzair.com

Earlier Wizz Air already had quite a large amount of direct flights from Budapest and with these new routes they have a total of 35 routes departing from Budapest.

Ryan Air returns to Budapest

After a break since 2010 RyanAir is about to return to Budapest again. As of March 12th they will start with five routes from Budapest. The destinations are: Dublin, London, Bologna, Birmingham and Bristol. Visit the RyanAir webpage.

In addition to this Wizz Air launches a new flight to Dortmund, flying 2-3 times a week. Visit the WizzAir webpage.

So this makes it easier to visit Budapest, and easier for us in Budapest to visit other places!

Five new destinations available from Budapest with RyanAir
Five new destinations available from Budapest with RyanAir