Originally Posted by
wyddfa
The question: Can I do a simple airside transfer? I didn't spot any such opportunity when I was there last week and I would much rather dive straight into the lounge rather than have to pass through non Schengen passport control etc...Time shouldn't be an issue arriving at 08:10 and leaving at 12:30.
In theory, you can. In practice, BUD is not really set up for airside transfers. There's an airside security (look carefully!) which is lightly manned - the one time I did this, they had to call more staff, because obviously there are a minimum number (3?) required to be present.
(As you're not going Schengen-side, the much more difficult part of getting from non-Schengen to Schengen airside is not an issue for you. That's also doable, but involved lots of head scratching from different uniformed people)
But with 4,5 hrs transit time it's not an issue at all going landslide and back.