Notably, this figure surpasses January of the previous year by 38.8 percent, marking a record start for the airport's cargo division. As the Hungarian government works on the renationalization of the airport, these statistics offer encouraging news, raising questions about the historic reacquisition set for February.

According to AIRportal.hu, in January 2024 the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport handled 1,100,451 passengers, a 9.3 percent increase compared to the same period before the coronavirus pandemic in the record year of 2019. This growth also constitutes a significant 16.5 percent climb from January last year, despite being 5.9 percent less than the unaffected January 2020.

The report emphasizes that last month, air freight traffic at Budapest Airport reached 18,074 tons, an increase of 5,049 tons or 38.8 percent more than a year ago. This achievement marks the busiest January on record for the airport’s cargo division.

The figures released also include the volume of goods passing through the airport but transported by road.

Another point of interest highlighted is that the Budapest airport saw 8,563 landings and take-offs in January, which is an 18.3 percent increase over the first month in 2023, and a 0.6 percent surpassing of January 2019.

Budapest Airport's 2023 Traffic

Last year, over 14 million 701 thousand passengers and 201,306 tons of air freight passed through Ferihegy. While passenger numbers were down by 9.1 percent compared to the record year of 2019, the air freight volume broke all previous records. The airport operator anticipates passenger numbers to exceed the pre-pandemic figure of 16.2 million this year.

More Than HUF 100 Billion Invested in Development Over the Past Four Years

The first phase of the BUD Cargo City expansion has reportedly concluded. This project, worth approximately 30 million euros (HUF 11.65 billion), facilitated the construction of two new aircraft stands, now allowing the simultaneous service of four cargo aircraft, while expanding the cargo handling complex by 6,500 square meters. Budapest Airport has carried out developments worth more than HUF 100 billion over the last four years.

Imminent Government Announcement on Acquisition of Ferihegy Airport

The agreement on the buyback of Ferihegy airport could be reached as early as February, according to recent statements by the Minister of National Economy, Márton Nagy. The government has been strategically preparing for the renationalization of the Liszt Ferenc International Airport for months:

* It has sold a 25 percent stake in the telecommunications provider Yettel Magyarország Zrt. and Yettel Real Estate Hungary Zrt.,

* It has disposed of a 20 percent stake in CETIN Hungary Zrt., responsible for operating relay towers,

* Previously offloaded its Erste stake for HUF 87.5 billion, and

* Decreased its ownership in Vienna Insurance Group's Hungarian business from 45 to 10 percent.

These transactions resulted in significant revenues, totaling more than 700 million euros (approximately HUF 270 billion), and it has since emerged that an open market process targeting the sale of a 66.9 percent state stake in Hungarian Post Life Insurance Co. and Hungarian Post Insurance Co. is also underway, which could conclude with contract signing in spring.

Transaction of Historically Significant Proportions Approaches

The cabinet is set to purchase Budapest Airport from Airport Holding, which is currently comprised of:

* German airport operator AviAlliance with 55.44 percent ownership,

* Malton, owned by a Singaporean investment fund, with 23.33 percent,

* The Canadian pension fund, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has a 21.23 percent stake.

This highly complex transaction's value and intricacy surpass, for example, the acquisition of Vodafone. Three years ago, in 2021, there was an attempt to buy the airport, which was then valued at 4.4 billion euros. Last September, Bloomberg reported that the current deal could be worth 4 billion euros, equivalent to 1,553 billion forints at present exchange rates.

It's known that the state aims to maintain a long-term majority ownership with a 51 percent share, while French Vinci SA could become a 49 percent minority shareholder and a professional operator as part of the agreement. Additionally, the Qatar sovereign wealth fund may join the consortium as either a financial or strategic investor.

According to the Ministry of National Economy, the transaction will have economically historic significance.