Budapest Ferihegy Terminal 1

Hochtief, the company that operates Budapest’s Ferihegy International Airport, is now dealing with a strike, which started this afternoon. The announcement of a renewed walk-out on the part of airport workers caught Budapest Airport off-guard and it is impossible to tell how the strike– started today at 4:00PM local time– will affect air travel. What is known, however, is that airport officials have already shut down Terminal 1, transferring all flights to Terminal 2B. Passengers who arrive to T-1 later this evening will be transported to T-2B by shuttle bus. According to the two unions involved–the Légiközlekedési Egyesült and the Repülőtéri Dolgozók és Szolgáltatók Szakszervezete–Budapest Airport did not offer any concessions and it merely used delay tactics during wage and scheduling negotiations.

Airport workers last took to the picket lines in December 2008, but Budapest Airport was able to limit delays and flight cancellations by calling in security guards from Greece to help with the screening of passengers. Apparently not expecting for the suspended strike to resume, the airport’s operators sent the Greek replacement workers home late last week. Hungarian unionized workers are furious over the airport’s plans to reduce salaries by as much as 15 percent and to cut down on the annual leave offered to workers.

The strike began at 4:00pm and it will affect flights operating from Ferihegy Terminals 1, 2A and 2B. Domokos Szollár, Budapest Airport’s spokesperson, told journalists that the operator is only now trying to determine which flights and routes will be most heavily affected by the strike. Interestingly, Malév Hungarian Airlines’ spokesperson, Krisztina Németh, found out about the strike from online journalists who contacted her asking for the national carrier’s reaction. Malév was forced to cancel dozens of flights late last year, during the initial strike, but Németh could not say how the current walk-out would affect the airline’s operations this week. Németh did, however, indicate that the carrier has 25 flights departing after 4:00pm this afternoon and that Malév would try to ensure that all of them are operational. Delays, however, are expected and Németh is urging passengers to arrive at the airport 2.5 hours before their scheduled departure.

Most discount airlines use Ferihegy Terminal 1, including carriers such as Wizz Air, easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.com. All full-service flights departing to destinations within the Schengen Zone use Terminal 2A, while other international flights–including those to the United Kingdom–depart from Terminal 2B.

Canadian Hungarian Journal