Budapest Airport in Hungary has opened its newly constructed Pier B facility as part of its larger BUD 2020 development programme.

Spanning across 10,000m², the new Pier B is part of passenger Terminal 2B. It will help to manage non-Schengen flights, including the wide-body aircraft flying intercontinental long-haul routes to North America, China and the Persian Gulf.

Budapest Airport CEO Jost Lammers said: “All this makes Budapest Airport one of the fastest growing airports in Europe over the last few years and it clearly demonstrates the success of our aviation strategy and all our related airline marketing and route development initiatives and efforts.”

Pier B was constructed by engineering firm KÉSZ Építő Zrt. The first concrete slabs were broken on 1 March last year.

“Pier B is not a palace, it is not a piece of art, but rather a very modern and very functional building.”

Designed by a team of architects from Hungarian design bureau KÖZTI and led by Zoltán Tima, the new pier B comprised an investment of HUF7.8bn (€25m), which was financed by Budapest Airport from its own resources.

KÉSZ Construction deputy CEO László Szalados said: “Pier B is not a palace, it is not a piece of art, but rather a very modern and very functional building that allows safe and secure airport operations and serves the comfort of the ever increasing number of passengers.”

Additionally, KÉSZ is set to start construction on a multi-storey car park in the parking area in front of Terminal 2 in a few weeks. It will also begin work this month at Cargo City, a dedicated, 20,000m² air cargo handling facility.

Both projects are also part of the BUD 2020 programme.