Terminal 1 was closed to traffic after MALÉV, Hungary’s flag carrier, went bankrupt in 2012. However, it still looks magnificent and a photographer of Hosszúlépés, a Hungarian walking tour organising company active in Budapest, shared some footage.
Budapest Airport Terminal 1 renewed, then closed
Hosszúlépés has a walking tour at Budapest Airport Terminal 1 during which the partakers can discover the secrets and beauties of the first terminal of the international airport. According to their description, time has stopped in the halls of the terminal. Check-in desks, inscriptions and baggage conveyors look exactly as they did when the last passengers took off from this terminal more than a decade ago.
Terminal 1 was the first terminal of Budapest Airport opened in 1950 to traffic. It was redesigned and rebuilt in 2004 because of Hungary’s EU accession and the severe security measures implemented e.g. because of the 11 September terrorist attack against the USA.
Source: PrtScr/Youtube
Magnificent building built in modernist style
The building of Terminal 1 is one of the best examples of the modernist style in Hungary and in Europe. Renovation lasted until 2005 and the airport received the Europa Nostra Medal in 2007 for its beauty. However, the terminal did not operate for long. In 2012, following MALÉV’s bankruptcy, it had to close due to the significant decrease in airport traffic. In 2017, Budapest Airport reviewed the decision but did not decide to reopen the old terminal.
Terminal 1 is now a memento of the heydays of Hungarian aviation. Hosszúlépés discovered its beauties on a December day with the help of Aeropark. They said every device there is ready for operation, so it seems the place could reopen at any time.
Source: PrtScr/Youtube
Films and offices at Terminal 1 right now
Currently, it serves private jets, hosts offices of several companies active at the airport and provides a venue for events and a filming location. For example, several scenes of Bruce Willis’s Die Hard 5 were made inside Terminal 1.
Source: PrtScr/Youtube
In 2016, the leadership of the airport said they did not calculate with the reopening of the pier. Instead, the Budapest Airport and the Hungarian government buying it back from foreign owners plan to build Terminal 3. We wrote about that in THIS article.
Here is what Terminal 1 looks like now:
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