Aeropark Aviation Museum Celebrates 30th Anniversary

The Aeropark Aviation Museum, located next to Budapest's Ferenc Liszt International Airport, is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and visitors can learn about the heroic era of aviation, the 66-year history of Malév airlines, and get an insight into the everyday life of modern aviation, behind the scenes of Budapest's and Debrecen's international airports.

The Aeropark Aviation Museum at Ferihegy opened its doors in 1991. The foundations of the exhibition center were laid in the second half of the 1970s, after it became clear that Malév would be phasing out several of its aircraft, including Il-18s and Tu-134s, in the coming period. The air traffic and airport directorate and the Museum of Transport have finally set up an aviation canteen near Terminal 2, the Aeropark Aviation Cultural Center (LKK) informed the state news agency MTI on Wednesday.

The Aeropark, which has been operated and developed by the Aviation Cultural Center since 2013, has become one of the most visited museums in the country, welcoming around 70,000 visitors a year. The site currently features 13 aircraft that present the history of Hungarian civil aviation from 1946 to the early 2000s.

In addition to these, a number of special airport ground vehicles can be seen and tried out, from a huge fire engine to an aircraft tractor, a front-end Sigigli or Wartburg. Visitors will not only get a taste of the past, but also of the present, as the Aribus A320neo simulator will give them a taste of how pilots work on one of today's most modern aircraft.

The announcement also says that one of the Aeropark's most popular permanent events is the airport visit, which visitors are taken behind the scenes of the Ferenc Liszt International Airport (formerly called 'Ferihegy') in a museum Malév Ikarus bus. An average of 30,000 visitors a year can discover the secrets of Ferihegy, and from 2022 the airport tour will also be available at Debrecen International Airport, the press release reads.