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Children included
Since the beginning of August, registered taxi drivers also have to pay a HUF 800 entry fee at Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport. Until now they could drive into the pick-up zone free of charge for five minutes, but that grace period is gone. Budapest Airport has designated two areas where passengers can be picked up for HUF 600 and HUF 450 instead of 800, and yet the first days still brought congestion – many drivers were caught out by the fact that the exit barriers accept card payment only.
The measure made plenty of noise in the press, and our customers have been asking us the same question ever since: does this change affect the transfer buses running from the airport car parks? Short answer: no.
The transfer stops exactly where it did before
Transfer buses from the car parks drop off and pick up passengers in the lower car park, at the T9 office – as they always have and as they will continue to do. That point hasn't changed, and the new fee doesn't override it: the route, the stop and the schedule stay exactly as they were before. From there you're inside the terminal after a few minutes' walk – no changes, no detours, just your suitcase and a short stroll.
So if you book airport parking, you arrive at the same place, you leave from the same place, and you need to allow the same amount of time to reach the terminal as before.
Nothing gets more expensive or more complicated
The most important thing to know: the transfer from the car parks stays free, on the way out and on the way back alike. The new rule creates no extra payment obligation for you – no entry fee, nothing to settle at a barrier, and parking rates aren't going up because of it.
You don't need to have a card ready, you don't need to choose between fee zones, and you don't need to expect the driver to ask you for anything on the spot. The transfer is included in the price of parking, exactly as it was before.
What does this mean in practice?
Most people add up the cost of getting to the airport in the week before departure: how much is a taxi, how much is parking, how much is public transport. We've already worked through all three options on a concrete example: Getting to Budapest Airport as a family in 2026. The current change moved a single item in that equation – the entry fee – and not on the car parks' side of it. If your own car plus airport parking was the winning option for you before, that decision still stands after August.
One thing hasn't changed, though: good car parks fill up fast in peak season. If you're travelling in summer or over a long weekend, it's worth booking your space a few days ahead instead of leaving it to the morning of departure.