Aeropark at Budapest Airport

Updated: October 2026 – There aren’t many places in Europe where you can climb into a Tupolev Tu-154 while a modern Airbus passes overhead. The Aeropark at Budapest Airport is one of them. The open-air museum preserves the aircraft of the former Hungarian flag carrier Malév – and sits so close to runway 31L that current traffic joins in directly when the runway configuration is right.

This page explains what you see at the Aeropark, when it pays to look up, how to get there without a car and where to keep spotting in Budapest if you still want takeoffs and landings after the museum.

From aircraft park to Aeropark

The story begins in 1988. In February of that year an Il-14 was handed over for display, and the idea of an open-air museum at Ferihegy Airport took shape. In 1991 the Ferihegy Aircraft Memorial Park opened between runway 31L and Terminal 2B, and in October of that year an Il-14, Il-18 and Tu-134 were towed there.

Since 2014 a non-profit company for aviation culture has run the park, and since June 19, 2014 it has been called the Aeropark. In spring 2017 it moved to its current location next to the M4 motorway airport interchange, with a new bus stop, footpath and parking lot. Some of the aircraft belong to the Hungarian Transport Museum, and the museum at the airport shows them as a partner. According to the operator, around 100,000 visitors come per year.

The collection: Malév up close

The reason spotters travel to the Aeropark from all over Europe is the fleet. Almost everything standing here has vanished from scheduled service – not just in Hungary but largely across the whole continent.

Aircraft	Registration	Year built	What you need to know
Tupolev Tu-154B-2	HA-LCG	1975	Three-engine medium-haul jet, towed into the park in 1994
Tupolev Tu-134	HA-LBE	1973	Twinjet with rear-mounted engines and a glazed nose
Ilyushin Il-18V	HA-MOA	1960	Four-engine turboprop
Ilyushin Il-18V	HA-MOG	1964	Repainted on the outside, cabin not accessible according to Wikipedia
Ilyushin Il-14T	HA-MAL	1957	The first aircraft in the collection, handed over in 1988
Lisunov Li-2T	HA-LIQ	1952	Soviet license-built DC-3
Yakovlev Yak-40E	HA-YLR, HA-LRA	1975, 1974	Three-engine regional jet
Let L-410 Turbolet	HA-LAF	1990	Czech regional turboprop
Antonov An-2	HA-MHI, HA-YHF	1967, 1978	Biplane for agricultural and light transport use
Mil Mi-2 and Kamov Ka-26	HA-BCB, HA-MMG	1979, 1970	Helicopters, the Mi-2 as a rescue helicopter
MiG-21 bisz	41	1979	Military jet, carries a number instead of a registration
Cessna Citation	N1GG	1999	Business jet, in the park since 2022

The information comes from the museum’s collection overview, as of October 2026. Individual aircraft may be missing for restoration or be added. You can enter many of the aircraft, and that is exactly what makes the Aeropark special: in the Tu-154 you see how cramped a cockpit with a flight engineer and navigator really was, and in the Il-18 you sit in a cabin from the 1960s.

On top of that comes a whole fleet of ground vehicles: special airport vehicles, follow-me cars, tugs and the Ikarus buses Malév once used to carry passengers across the apron. In two converted buses, exhibitions show the work of Hungarian air traffic control and aircraft maintenance, and another one tells the story of Malév on board.

Live traffic: when it gets loud over the Aeropark

Budapest Airport has two parallel runways: 13L/31R at 3,707 meters and 13R/31L at 3,010 meters. Terminal 2 lies between them. In normal operation, aircraft land on the right-hand runway and take off from the left – so landings on 31R or 13R, takeoffs from 31L or 13L. According to a widely used spotter guide, air traffic control prefers 13 early in the morning to avoid departures over the city, and switches back to 31 after the morning departure wave when the wind allows.

What matters for the Aeropark is 31L. The park lies in its approach area, and when aircraft land on this runway, they pass low over the grounds. That doesn’t happen all the time, though, only in certain traffic situations. According to the same spotter guide, for example, traffic parked at the old Terminal 1 apron lands on 31L.

Configuration	What you experience at the Aeropark	How often	Recommendation
Landings 31L	Approaches low over the grounds	only in certain traffic situations	Camera at the ready, eyes on the sky
Normal operation 31 (landing 31R, takeoff 31L)	Takeoffs on 31L move away from the park	frequent	Enjoy the museum, live traffic at Spotterdomb
Operation on 13	Traffic runs in the other direction	frequent in the morning, otherwise wind-dependent	For landings, go to Spotter Hill at 13R

In short: the Aeropark is a museum with a bonus, not a spot where you count movements for hours. If you catch a few flyovers, that is a gift. How to judge wind and runway direction in advance is explained in the guide Understanding runway direction at airports. Why runways have names like 31L in the first place is covered in the article on runway designations.

Photography at the Aeropark

Museum aircraft make grateful subjects: they stand still, and you have all the time in the world. Still, there are two challenges. First, the aircraft stand fairly close together, and vehicles or barriers sit between them. A complete side view of the Tu-154 or the Il-18 without distracting elements is difficult. So work with details instead: the three engines at the tail of the Tu-154, the four propellers of the Il-18, the glass nose of the Tu-134, the registration on the fuselage.

Second, the light depends on the orientation of each individual aircraft. What stands on the sunny side in the morning is in shade in the afternoon. If you want to shoot a particular aircraft cleanly, check the sun position in advance – how that works is explained in the article Planning the sun position at a photo spot.

For the flyovers on 31L you don’t need a super-telephoto. The aircraft come in low, and a standard telephoto zoom is enough. Because you catch them from below, set the exposure a little brighter, otherwise the underside gets too dark against the bright sky. Inside the cabins it is cramped and dark: a fast wide-angle lens and a higher ISO help more than a flash. You’ll find the basics in Camera settings for plane spotting.

What else flies at Budapest Airport

Budapest is no longer a classic hub of a network airline since Malév ceased operations in 2012. Today low-cost traffic shapes the picture, complemented by feeders to the big hubs and a handful of long-haul flights. The following details describe the situation as of October 2026, so check routes and types before your visit.

• Wizz Air: Wizz Air has its headquarters and main hub in Budapest. Accordingly, Airbus narrowbody jets such as the A321neo and the A321 dominate.
• Ryanair: Ryanair maintains a base, and the Boeing 737-800 is part of the everyday picture.
• European network airlines: LOT, Lufthansa, Swiss and Air France, among others, connect Budapest with their hubs, often with types such as the Airbus A320neo.
• Long-haul and Gulf: Emirates, flydubai and Qatar Airways fly to Budapest, plus Asian carriers.
• Cargo: Cargolux, FedEx, UPS and Gulf freighters provide widebody traffic. According to the spotter guide, some Boeing 747s, especially from Cargolux, land on the longer 13L/31R for performance reasons, and ICAO code E and F types are assigned to 31R anyway during parallel operations – so you are more likely to get types like the 747-400 and the 777F at the other runway.

How to tell the many Airbus and Boeing narrowbody jets apart is explained in Recognizing aircraft types for beginners. For the freighters, take a look at Recognizing cargo aircraft.

Getting there: bus, express bus and car

The Aeropark is one of the few Budapest spots you can reach comfortably without a car. The usual route takes the M3 metro to the terminus Kőbánya-Kispest and from there bus 200E toward Terminal 2. You get off at the first stop on the airport grounds, called Repülőmúzeum (aviation museum). From the bus to the entrance it is about 350 meters according to the museum.

From the city center, the alternative is the 100E express bus from Deák Ferenc tér to Terminal 2. According to the museum website it runs every 20 minutes, and it has its own fare. From the terminal you walk to the park. Check lines and frequencies in advance with the Budapest transit authority’s journey planner.

By car you take the M4 to the airport interchange. The museum parking lot is free for visitors and closed outside opening hours – so don’t leave your car there if you want to head to another spot afterward.

Tickets, simulators and tours

According to the price list on the museum website, admission as of October 2026 is 4,300 forints for adults, 2,500 forints reduced and 11,500 forints for a family ticket. Opening hours change seasonally and are listed day by day in the calendar on aeropark.hu. We deliberately don’t list fixed times here – check before you go.

For an extra fee you can sit in several simulators, including an Airbus A320neo simulator, an Mi-2 helicopter and a Tu-134 cockpit. The big simulators have minimum ages of 12 and 14 years respectively.

The real highlight for spotters is the airport tours that start at the Aeropark. Depending on the tour, a bus takes you behind the scenes at Ferihegy, and the hangar tour is only possible from age ten. According to the price list, a tour ticket includes admission to the Aeropark on the same day – so if you are booking a tour anyway, you don’t pay for the museum twice. How tours like this work and what to watch out for is explained in Airport tour and apron ride.

How a good day at the Aeropark goes

What else belongs in your camera bag is covered in the Equipment checklist for plane spotting. If you are brand new, Plane spotting for beginners helps you get started.

Backup spots around Ferihegy

Because the Aeropark only gets a little of the live traffic now and then, a second spot belongs in every Budapest plan. The obvious addition is the observation deck at Terminal 2A. It is accessible before security and looks onto the apron and toward runway 13L/31R – ideal for collecting current registrations after the museum.

For landings on 13R there is the official Spotter Hill on Igló utca. You reach it by car or by bus 200E to Szemeretelep vasútállomás; from the terminal it is too far to walk. When 31R is in use, Spotterdomb near Vecsés in the southeast is where the scene meets, with benches and photo windows in the vegetation. You can practically only get there by car via the M4. At all fence spots: don’t touch the fence, sensors can set off an alarm.

Budapest combines well with Vienna. There, the spotter hill at Vienna Airport is the first address for live traffic. If you like the museum-plus-runway concept, you’ll find it in the UK at the Runway Visitor Park in Manchester. In Germany, the Flugwerft Schleißheim and the Technik Museum Speyer are worth a visit for historic aircraft. More destinations for your trip planning are collected in the article The best spotting spots in Europe.

Rules in the park and at the fence

The Aeropark is a museum with house rules. Barriers at aircraft and vehicles are there for a reason: some cabins are in poor condition or are currently being restored. Don’t climb on wings or landing gear, even if it is tempting, and follow the staff’s instructions.

Conclusion

The Aeropark isn’t a spot where you collect takeoffs and landings by the minute. It is something rarer: a place where you don’t just photograph the aircraft that shaped Eastern Bloc air travel but step inside them – and right at an active airport. When the traffic situation fits and approaches to 31L pass over the park, a Tu-154 and a modern Airbus suddenly stand in front of you at the same moment.

For a full spotting day in Budapest, combine the Aeropark with the deck at Terminal 2A or one of the hills. With bus 200E, an airport tour and a simulator in the package, it is incidentally the best entry point for city-break travelers and families.