Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) has announced it reached €190m ($215m) in sales across all its commercial units in 2018.

The result dovetails with a record-breaking 15m passengers handled during the year.

BUD yesterday toasted the success of its retail, aviation and business partners at its annual awards ceremony, with Maygar Duty Free Kft (T2B) winning Retailer of the Year alongside Memories of Hungary kft (SkyCourt) and SSP Hungary – Camden Food Co. (SkyCourt).

The event, now in its 12^th year, attracted more than 300 attendees from the airport’s carriers, concessionaires, operations and other enterprises who play an important role in the Hungarian gateway’s continued success.

HUNGARIAN DUTY FREE WIN

Commenting on the win, Ildikó Jankovich, Managing Director at Gebr. Heinemann’s Hungarian Duty Free (Maygar Duty Free Free) said: “This award is the ideal way to cement our partnership with Budapest Airport – the number one distributor of original, branded items in Heinemann’s entire European network.

“Since opening our first store at the airport in 1998 we’ve experienced a more than 50% increase in sales, last year being no exception as we recorded further growth. Thank you to all at the airport who are part of this fantastic team.”

BUD plans to continue its commercial momentum in 2019, with a number of units due to be refreshed and revamped at its SkyCourt passenger hall situated between Terminal 2A and 2B in the first half of this year.

These include Heinemann Duty Free’s multi-brand accessories outlet, Playersroom, Swarovski, Tommy Hilfiger/Hugo Boss, Caffé Ritazza, Upper Crust, Negroni and Seasons.

As alluded to above, the airport celebrated a 20-year partnership with Gebr. Heinemann in 2018.

Today, the German travel retailer operates 2,320sq m of retail space at SkyCourt, including a central duty free walkthrough store, two boarding gate shops, three specialist fashion stores and a Victoria’s Secret unit alongside the multi-brand accessories store.

Its sales have surged by more than 50% since 1998, with BUD remaining a crucial artery to total group revenues.

Jost Lammers, CEO, BUD commented: “To be able to say a personal thank you to all our partners, while also recognising outstanding contribution in delivering exceptional performance and results, is an honour and something we take great pride in doing.

“We couldn’t produce such robust growth and development without the endless efforts and cooperation in yet another record breaking year.”