Budapest Airport strike resumes

The strike continued at Budapest international Ferihegy airport from 4 p.m. local time on Monday afternoon, the two organising unions said.

The strike will affect both terminals, the Union of Air Traffic Controllers (LESZ) and the Union of Airport Workers (RDSZSZ) said.

The unions suspended a strike on December 22 which originally started on December 10.

Airport operating Budapest Airport (BA) spokesman Domokos Szollar in response said that Terminal 1 has been closed from 4 p.m. and flights will be operated from Terminal 2. He said that altogether 108 flights are departing from Ferihegy after 4 p.m. on Monday.

The unions are demanding changes to their collective agreement, freezing layoffs and paying benefits retroactively. Earlier in January they also objected the airport management's plan to employ Greek "blacklegs", as they had done in December.

Szollar said that the two unions' decision was "unfriendly and unfair", going against the earlier pledges that they would not consider resuming the strike during ongoing talks. He said that the BA management had sent home the Greek replacements. The BA management is still waiting for the unions' response to their proposals until 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Hungarian airlines Malev announced it was prepared to operate all 25 of its flights on Monday despite the strike. Malev however advises passengers to expect delays and arrive 2-2.5 hours before departure, spokeswoman Krisztina Nemeth told MTI.

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