Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD): flight delays and compensation

Live at Budapest (BUD) today

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About the airport

Budapest is Hungary's main international airport and a major base of Wizz Air. In 2024 it set a record with more than 17 million passengers across its two terminals (2A and 2B). Most traffic is low-cost (Wizz Air and Ryanair), with daily flights to the main European hubs and to Istanbul, Dubai and Doha.

Every flight departing from Budapest is covered by EU 261/2004, whatever the airline. For arrivals, the airline matters: from outside the EU, only EU airlines are covered.

Busiest routes from Budapest – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Ferenc Liszt International (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 69,107 flights arrived at BUD; 99 of them were held back this way, 52 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.04 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

• aerodrome capacity73%
• weather27%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

1. J
2. F
3. M
4. A
5. M
6. J
7. J
8. A
9. S
10. O
11. N
12. D

Worst days: 18 October 2025 – 1,775 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 1 December 2025 – 234 minutes, mostly weather; 2 January 2025 – 216 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 53,878 arrivals, 0.03 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (90%) and aerodrome capacity (10%).

Check what happened at BUD on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (27% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (0%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

• In the summer peak (June–September), low-cost aircraft flying 4–6 sectors a day build up delays of 1–3 hours by the evening.
• Winter fog (November–February) sometimes restricts traffic – an extraordinary circumstance, but only during the hours affected.
• In 2023–2024 Pratt & Whitney engine problems grounded part of Wizz Air's fleet, leading to cancellations and consolidated flights – generally the airline's risk, so compensation is due.
• Security queues in Terminal 2B can be long in the early-morning and late-evening peaks; a missed flight is then usually the passenger's risk.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

• Wizz Air
• Ryanair
• Lufthansa
• Turkish Airlines
• Emirates
• Qatar Airways
• KLM
• British Airways
• easyJet
• Austrian Airlines
• Eurowings
• LOT Polish Airlines

Local information

• Hungary's enforcement body is the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest. Since the CJEU ruling in C-597/20 (LOT), a national enforcement body may order an airline to pay compensation – but the procedure takes months.
• If you are stranded overnight, the airline must provide a hotel; if it does not, you can claim back the cost of a hotel near the airport.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport?

Yes. BUD is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport?

If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

How is the length of the delay measured?

By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

Related guides

• Flight delay compensation
• Missed connection compensation
• National enforcement bodies and ADR
• All airports

Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

Sources

1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.