Budapest Flights - Special Offers, Best Deals

Finding Cheap Budapest Flights

On this page we provide all the information you'll need to book a flight to Budapest from US cities, Great Britain, Canada, the European Union and Australia/New Zealand, along with basic details about arriving in the city (see below). What's more, you'll find below our dynamic flight finder, with special rates from top airlines and the choice of e-ticketing for many fares. So make big savings by booking online with us now! 

Arriving at Budapest Airport (Budapest Ferihegy)

Hungary's Ferihegy airport (also known as Budapest Airport), is located about 15 miles south-east of Budapest and has two main terminals. The newly renovated Terminal 1, opened on 1 September 2005, handles flights with budget carriers including easyJet - from London Luton and Gatwick - Wizz Air, Sky Europe, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Germanwings.

The modern Terminal 2 building is divided into two sections, the original 2A concourse and the more recent 2B extension. Building 2A is used to handle passengers arriving from countries in the Schengen zone, whereas 2B handles non-Schengen traffic (excluding the budget airlines mentioned above, which use Ferihegy 1).

For information on travelling between the airport and downtown Budapest once you arrive, see our essentials section (shuttle bus and private vehicle airport transfers can also be booked via our website). For additional, information on Ferihegy and its terminals visit the official Budapest Airport website.

From the United States

The best deals from major airlines, travel agents and consolidators usually come in the form of Apex tickets, which, as well as carrying certain restrictions must be booked at least 21 days before your intended date of departure. However, last minute deals can also be great cash savers, especially if you're flexible about the carrier that you travel with, and unfussy about the timing of your flight. Including at least one Saturday night within your planned itinerary should help your cause even further. To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.

Direct flights to Budapest from east coast cities such as New York and Atlanta are usually via European cities such as London, Paris and Frankfurt. Typically, a Coach Class return flight in July/August will cost around $1250 USD (low season approx $550-750 USD), although we've found return fares from New York Newark for as little as $1050 USD. From west coast cities such as Los Angeles, fares rise considerably. A Coach class return in high season with Delta/Malév will typically cost around $1450 USD.

If booking online, try to search for fares late in the evening (just after midnight) as this is the time when airlines update their databases to add special offers. If you do find a great deal, be quick though, as the number of tickets on sale is often limited (airlines invariably advertise the same deal in newspapers the following morning, even though most tickets will have already been sold. This is because customers, who flock to the website, may still end up purchasing a similar ticket even though all the reduced fares have gone).

Other low fares can also be found by visiting the pages of airline consolidators such as www.onetravel.com, Hotwire or web specialist's such as www.flyaow.com. Another innovation to the Internet market is Priceline, a website where you can "name your own price" on a wide choice of flights, including transatlantic crossings. In truth, to get a good deal you need to do your homework on prices elsewhere before putting in a bid.

Undoubtedly the best services between Hungary and the United States are Malév's non-stop direct service from JFK New York to Ferihegy (with wide bodied Boeing 767-200s used on the route) and Delta's Flight 98 (Flight 99 on the return leg) which takes nine hours to reach Budapest. Tickets (approx $1200-$2000 USD return in high season) can be purchased through our website. 

There's also a direct service between Atlanta and Budapest, with a 45-minute stop in Vienna, operated in partnership by Malév, Delta, and Austrian Airlines (Tel: 1-117-1676). Alternatively, Lufthansa's flight 445 (a cheaper option) connects to Budapest via a change of planes in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Another alternative to consider is flying direct to the Austrian capital Vienna. From west coast cities such as Los Angeles, we've found scheduled return fares with British Airways (via London) and KLM (via Amsterdam) during high season for around $1150 USD. You may also be able to find "Early bird" deals through travel agents specialising in Hungary, which are lower than a normal Apex fare.

College students and adults under 26 can pick up good deals through youth oriented travel agencies such as STA Travel. Their site provides a database of the cheapest fares available and allows you to make a choice of based on price, airline, time etc. Other ways to save money include booking through a discount agency, or if you've left arrangements to the last minute, buying a ticket through an agency offering consolidated/discounted fares such as www.onetravel.com. A useful "Rules of the Air" page (which gives the lowdown on specific subjects such as check-in time and baggage limits for airlines such as Delta and United) is an added bonus on their site.

For combined package tours of Budapest, Vienna and Prague, a site well-worth visiting is www.goaheadvacations.com. They offer an 11 day tour of the three capitals starting at a very reasonable $2099 USD.

For more travel agent listings see our links page. Passport, customs, general information and useful facts and figures are included in our essentials a-c section.

From Great Britain

To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. In addition, specialist tour operators such as Bakers Dolphin (Tel: 0870 900 5766) offer reasonably priced scheduled flights from London with major carriers such as British Airways and Malév Hungarian Airlines.

As there are no direct scheduled services from Aberdeen and Edinburgh, travellers will need to arrange a connecting domestic flight when booking (typically around £90 from BA, although cheaper flights are available with carriers such as easyJet). Alternatively, Malév offer a daily service from Glasgow Airport to Budapest.

The cheapest scheduled apex return flights (depending on what time of day you fly) cost around £215 during August and September. However, better deals are available if you shop around and/or travel with other carriers such as KLM (see cheapflights.co.uk below). In addition, it's worth knowing - particularly for travellers from Edinburgh - that easyJet offer a direct (summer) service from Newcastle to Budapest.

As far as Hungary's national carrier is concerned, Malév now fly regular scheduled services to Budapest from Manchester and Gatwick Airports. The latter is a particularly useful option for those living in central London, as the Gatwick Express rail service (from London Victoria) takes just 30 minutes to reach the airport. In offering services from Gatwick, Malév has now sold its landing rights at Heathrow to BA (who, in turn, no longer operate scheduled services to Budapest from Gatwick). Therefore, Malév and easyJet are the only airlines flying from the Sussex/M23 area.

More recently, and following Hungary's accession to the EU on 1 May 2004, several low-cost carriers are now operating services to Budapest. For example, SkyEurope began daily low-fare flights from London Stansted to Budapest using Boeing 737-500 aircraft. Fares, which start from around £30 one-way, exclude fees/taxes and are subject to availability. For further details and online booking, visit the airline's website. And, as we've mentioned above, easyJet now operate daily services to Budapest from London Luton and Gatwick with prices starting from around £28.99 (excluding taxes).

Alternatively, consider flying to Vienna and then travelling on to Budapest by train. For example, STA Travel (www.sta-travel.co.uk) have return flights starting at £142 return (in high season). The cost of a return ticket to Budapest by train from Vienna is then £26. Obviously, any saving you may make on the flight is offset by an increased journey time.

Perhaps the best resource for finding late bargains and cheap fares is www.cheapflights.co.uk. Not only does the site remove the hassle of contacting countless travel agents by phone, but also provides direct e-mail and/or website links to companies listed in their database. The 'information' section also gives useful hints and tips on finding the best deals around. Other useful sites include www.travellersweb.ws and farebase (easy to use with highly competitive prices).

For a short stay, some of the best deals come in the form of city breaks, which usually include a tour of Budapest. For longer 10 day guided tours, operators such as Titan HiTours offer a combined itinerary which takes in Prague, Vienna and Budapest from £1225. Flight time from London Heathrow to Budapest is 2 hours 25 minutes.

For more travel agent listings see our links page. Passport, customs, general information and useful facts and figures are included in our essentials a-c section.

From Canada

Until recently there were no direct flights from Canada to Budapest, so passengers had little choice but to fly via cities such as London, Frankfurt and Zurich. All this changed however, with the introduction by Malév of a direct twice weekly service from Toronto (now with 4 flights a week). Alternatively, Malév, in conjunction with its partner airline Air Canada, also operate daily one stop services via London and Frankfurt. Further information for Canadian citizens can be found at the Malév Hungarian Tours website.

To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. West coast flights from Vancouver start at around $1100 USD in the low season, rising to approx $1700 USD in high season. Similar flights from Toronto are between $763 USD and $1000 USD respectively. If you're on a tight budget another option may be to travel out from a US city such as New York or Seattle (for west coast flights).

For more travel agent listings see our links page. Passport, customs, general information and useful facts and figures are included in our essentials a-c section.

From the European Union

To get an idea of the flights and fares available, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder.

Low-cost Airlines - low-cost flights to Budapest from EU Member States are starting to growing in number with major players in this sector (i.e. Air Berlin, SkyEurope, easyJet and Germanwings) now offering services to Ferihegy.

Taking each in turn, SkyEurope operate daily low-cost flights from Paris to Budapest using Boeing 737-500 aircraft, along with services to/from Amsterdam, London (Stansted), Milan, Rome, Venice and Warsaw. 

easyJet operate routes to Budapest from Berlin, Dortmund and London, while Air Berlin also fly from the German capital (Tegel), as well as serving Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Münich. For other German cities, Germanwings fly from Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart) while from Scandinavia, SAS fly a regular Stockholm-Budapest service and the recently launched norwegian.no fly from Oslo. One of the most competitive low-cost airlines currently serving Budapest is WIZZ Air who, as well as flying to Hungary from London, Brussels, Stockholm and Paris operate a brand new (and ever expanding fleet) of Airbus aircraft.

National and Regional Carriers - so far as the major national carriers are concerned, Air France offers daily scheduled services from Paris (Charles De Gaulle) to Budapest with a flight time of 2hrs 10mins. Flight prices are on the high side, with a return economy ticket in high season costing around €330-450. Looking for cheaper deals with other carriers such as BA and Malév Hungarian Airlines may therefore be worthwhile. 

In Germany, Lufthansa fly direct from Frankfurt/Main, Berlin (Tegel) and Münich (Augsburg, Franz Josef Strauss) to Ferihegy. As the carrier frequently offers special web only deals (as well as a 'happy hour' page where visitors can bid for flights) you are advised to check online for Lufthansa's latest prices.

In the Netherlands, KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines fly direct to Budapest from Amsterdam (Schiphol Airport), while flights from Maastricht are one stop affairs (via Schipol). If you're planning to travel from Rotterdam, then a 45 minute train journey to Amsterdam is required for a direct flight out. For information on seasonal deals to Budapest check out KLM's 'special offers' pages. For 2004, a return ticket from Amsterdam, Schiphol (in high season) costs from €307.

For visitors from Finland, Finnair operate scheduled (direct) flights from Helsinki Vantaa, with return fares costing €502. Needless to say if you're visiting for the Hungarian Grand Prix booking early is essential! Flight time is approx. 2hrs 25 mins.

The websites of other national carriers are also good sources of information for routes, schedules and prices. Each can be accessed by clicking on the relevant link: Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, ČSA (Czech Airlines), Cyprus Airways, Iberia Airlines, Lot (Polish Airlines) Luxair, Olympic Airways, TAP (Air Portugal) and SAS.

From Australia and New Zealand

Flights to Budapest from Sydney and Melbourne are usually via London and Paris, while those from Perth and Brisbane are two stop affairs via Singapore, Helsinki or London Heathrow. Although ticket prices can vary wildly, a Coach Class return flight in July/August (from Sydney) will cost around A$2800 AUSD (low season approx A$2100).

To get an idea of the flights and fares available from Australia, a good starting point is our own Dynamic Fare Finder. In addition, Travel Com offers up a comprehensive choice from their online database.

For citizens of New Zealand, return (high season) fares from Auckland (using carriers such as KLM or Lufthansa) start at NZ$2300, while travellers from Wellington should be prepared to pay around NZ$2500. A good online booking service can be found at: www.travel-nz.com (House of Travel).