If you fly late in the evening or early in the morning from Budapest, the debate about night flying is worth following: at the end of August the government set up a working group to reduce traffic in the deep-sleep period, and the surrounding districts are pressing for a stricter ban. Nothing has changed yet; timetables stand.
The rule and the figures
Under the rules in force since 2019, at most 50 commercial aircraft movements may be scheduled at Liszt Ferenc airport between 22:00 and 06:00, and at most six in the deep-sleep period between midnight and 05:00. Exceptions need the aviation authority's permission.
HungaroControl's Green Landing publication nevertheless recorded 829 movements in the deep-sleep period in the first quarter of 2026, 9.2 a night on average. On 65 of the 90 nights there were more than six; on 6 January, 30 aircraft took off or landed between midnight and 5. Budapest Airport attributes 235 of them to delays and the rest to the schedule, and says the picture is improving: by the end of July 2026 the number of late flights slipping into the deep-sleep period was almost 50 per cent below 2024 and close to 20 per cent below 2025.
Why flights slip past midnight
Flights planned for the evening are delayed by weather, operations or traffic, and the hour before midnight is already busy: on 24 September, for instance, 19 landings were scheduled between 23:00 and midnight. HungaroControl says safety comes first, so the order or routing of flights is generally not changed for noise reasons alone.
Airlines pay a deep-sleep operating fee for every flight between midnight and 5; its base rate has been 56 per cent higher since April 2025 than in 2024. The fee depends on the aircraft's noise class, the flight's punctuality and the direction of approach, and the money goes to noise protection.
Who wants what
- District XVIII estimates 30,000–35,000 residents are affected and backs a complete, strict night ban on take-offs and landings, with clearly defined exceptions and higher fines.
- Rákosmente wants a full ban on traffic in the deep-sleep period, above all for cargo flights.
- Zugló would extend the restriction to 23:00–06:00 and, in the longer run, has raised moving the cargo terminal, Terminal 1, further from the city.
- Wizz Air is working with the group; it says its punctuality improved by almost 7 per cent in a year and by more than 30 per cent against 2024, that it builds extra time into schedules near midnight, and that further growth would come mainly from flights based abroad.
What it means for passengers
For now, nothing: timetables are unchanged, and whether late departures and early arrivals are tightened will be known after the working group reports. Worth knowing already: flights planned after 23:00 slip most easily, and after a flight arriving past midnight public transport means the 100E's night departures until dawn. If your flight is moved for noise reasons, the airline must tell you; we follow the changes on our flight information page too.
Source: Index