Kiwi.com and Budapest airport improve passenger journey with bud:connects

The self-connecting transfer service helps to minimize airport connecting time and provides passengers with assistance directly at the airport

Kiwi.com and Budapest airport (BUD) have joined their forces to provide transferring passengers with more hassle-free travel options. 

As a part of the Kiwi.com Hosted Stopover Program, Budapest airport has introduced bud:connects, self-transfer counters at both terminals to help facilitate smoother journeys when passengers with two separate tickets fly through the airport in any direction. 

Passengers with itineraries combined through Kiwi.com’s Virtual Interlining can simply follow the signage to reach one of the two bud:connects desks. Agents who received special training from Kiwi.com will provide them with assistance and inform them about their transfer.

They will also help them in case of other inquiries, such as printing their boarding passes, etc. In addition, they are equipped with dedicated mobile phones passengers can use to contact Kiwi.com Customer Support in case of missed connections. 

Furthermore, passengers traveling with separate tickets but with hand baggage only will be allowed to stay airside. In case of hold baggage, they will have to pick the bags up in the baggage reclaim area and exit the landside to check them in again. However, they will be eligible to receive a free Fast Track voucher in case of a connection in less than three hours.

The airport experience has already improved, which will help secure more bookings in the future

The bud:connects service has just been launched, but Budapest airport and Kiwi.com are already working hard to enhance the customer experience at the airport and bring further improvements of the service to make the airport one of the favorite hubs in Europe for self-connecting passengers.

With 14.9 million passengers to 125 destinations in 45 countries in 2018, Budapest airport has become the leading airport in terms of passenger growth. Together with its airline partners, the airport is a key contributor to the development of tourism both in Budapest and Hungary. 

Sometimes cheaper than conventional hubs and with competitive elapsed journey times, Budapest airport and Kiwi.com are already seeing an improved passenger journey which will help secure even more bookings in the future. 

“We are delighted to team up with Kiwi.com to help grow the self-transfer segment offered between airlines, who otherwise would not be connecting flight sectors together,” said Budapest airport CCO, Kan Jandu. 

“We encourage other airports to look into the self-transfer market as it provides a Virtual Interlining opportunity for passengers to combine tickets on two different airlines, even with different business models.”

Kiwi.com’s Hosted Stopover Program can turn any airport into a potential hub for self-connecting passengers

Kiwi.com’s cutting-edge technology of Virtual Interlining allows combining not only airlines that do not usually cooperate with each other, but also all the other means of transportation, including buses, trains, ferries, or taxis.

With the benefit of combining all means of transportation together, Kiwi.com can turn any airport into a potential hub for self-connecting passengers. It has already started collaborating with airports sharing its know-how. 

Together, they have been developing unique products and tailor-made solutions to help airports get the most from the incredible growth of self-connection and to offer their customers a better customer experience when transferring at the airport.

The Hosted Stopover Program covers a range of products designed specifically for airports, from the optimization of minimum connecting time (MCT) to increase the possible connections, and passenger flow optimization.

The company also provides sophisticated data insights thanks to its unique Airport Dashboard — a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool to have access to Kiwi.com’s information about traffic through the airport.