Budapest Ferihegy Airport

Good infrastructure bad management and poorly trained staff. Check-in doesn't open until exactly 2 hours before the flight (regardless of how empty the place is and/or how many passengers are waiting). Hand- luggage check is disorganized. All is over-sized and there is a lot of running around for nothing. Staff are too disinterested to change the lanes to fit the demand. Then there is the laughable shoes and belt off routine that has long been shown to be nonsense and abandoned by most airports. So overall keep the building get rid off the supervisors and start training the remaining employees.

Never seen anything like this. Passengers hauled into a tent to wait for boarding like cattle. No heating no sanitation. Shame on these people. I have a couple ideas for further improvements/cost saving: passengers should load their baggage onto the plane or passengers should push the plane on the runway.

This is an interesting airport to say the least. We flew out of terminal 2B and it seems as though they ran out of money to completely renovate the entire terminal. Once past security where the bin helpers throw your bins onto the conveyor belt with no regards to what hand luggage you might be carrying you come upon a beautifully renovated terminal with nice seating areas and a good selection of restaurants. There is free wifi in the food court area and the bathrooms are pretty clean. But then you go to the gate area and its like you are going back to the 1970s. Even worse my gate did not have a "real" gate. We had to walk outside and then we were corralled into a big tent with only four pathetic heating lights in the entire thing. It's a real shame that the airport couldn't do a complete renovation of the terminal because it looked like it had so much potential to be nice.

Terminal 2 takes all flights but has no rail link to Budapest meaning a long bus ride or pricey taxi is the only way to get there. Arriving was fine apart from a ridiculously long queue at immigration despite us arriving from an EU nation. Return - Check in was alright a long queue but it seemed to go down quickly. Queuing at security was a shambles took longer to pass the tiny security hall than it did to check in. Duty Free was alright and the skycourt upstairs for food and drink is brilliant. I have a huge problem with the way they board aircraft's here - boarding 3 Jet2 flights (Leeds Manchester Edinburgh) through the same gate at the same time? Was an absolute shambles. An hour before the flight was due to depart we were told we were boarding through the gate walked down the jetway onto the airport tarmac walked across and into what can only be described as a tent - with 3 queues for each flight. No toilet facilities and no seating just standing room only. Waited in a freezing cold damp tent for half an hour then the doors were opened and all 3 queues boarded 3 identical aircraft - what a shambles. People were boarding the wrong plane and because of it we left 30 minutes late but thankfully made up for it in flight. For the major international airport of a capital city of a European Country this was a shambles. I've flown to Greek Island airstrips and had a better experience.

Terminal 1 closed in early 2012. T2 now takes all flights. It was refurbished last year and is spacious well organised and light. There are lots of good food options on the second floor. Shops are ok but overpriced. The main problem is accessibility as T2 is not served by a railway connection (unlike T1). There is a taxi service but it is a little pricey.

Airport has good bus links to city but you need to change at the end of the bus line onto the metro to finish your final leg to the city. No train link direct from airport. Bureau de Change always very busy so advisable to get your holiday money before you leave. Airport signage was slightly confusing (does an up arrow mean straight ahead or on the floor above?) but not to the point it would seriously disrupt you. Airport terminal 2B was well lit modern and had excellent facilities. Staff understood English well. In security lines very fast moving metal rolling bars move the trays along be warned.

Remember my stay here as smooth and a pleasure. Superb view of the airport from several spots which I appreciated. Ground crew put on viking helmets when the Norwegian Air Shuttle came in. Quite a small airport perhaps a bit too small which gives little options for food and other things you might want to purchase. Everything else; quick seemed efficient enough. Bit of a queue when checking in.

Arrived late in the evening speed through border control didn't have to wait for our luggage. But departed on BA from Terminal 2B what a disaster; two low cost airlines checking in on adjacent desks meant the queues blocked access to both the toilets and the cafe. We had priority passes for the security but why did the staff insist I put our boarding cards through the X-ray machine? Don't rely on the signs they are really confusing and no two clocks told the same time. The one remaining executive lounge is next door to a derelict area which was once another lounge the one we used couldn't even provide ice for our G&Ts.

Terminal 1 is the designated low cost terminal catering for Wizzair easyjet Jet2 Germanwings and Norwegian. It is small but has been nicely refurbished and contains everything you could need as both an arriving or departing passenger. Plenty of refreshment outlets and even an outside viewing area overlooking the apron which is free to visit if you need to kill a bit of time while you wait for your flight. Overall a very nice experience.

Arrived at Terminal 2. Bags arrived very quickly. Taxi service to the centre is well organised fixed price (depending on zone) and not expensive (and discount card for fixed price back to the airport). Check-in on departure is well-organised and efficient. Boarding cards issued online or by machine at airport (with someone to help with machines) - the desks only receive baggage. We checked in online to choose seats but did not complete because we did not have access to a printer. Got the boarding passes from the machine at the airport but with the seats we had chosen online. Very smart departure area. Paid to go in the Malev business lounge (EUR 16 each) which was well worth it.