Budapest - No passengers will be checked in at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport until at least 1 pm (1200 GMT), a spokesman for airport management said on Saturday as a strike by airport staff entered its fourth day.

"Only two members of passenger security staff out of three shifts due to start work on Saturday morning have taken up their posts," said Domokos Szollar, spokesman for Budapest Airport, the company that runs the airport.

He added that airlines must decide "at the own risk" whether or not to cancel scheduled flights.

Hungary's only major international airport was the scene of chaos since Wednesday morning when staff came out on strike, among them security workers.

With no security checks, passengers could not proceed to the boarding gates

Limited service was restored by using what little staff was available to man security gates on just one of three passenger terminals and redirecting all passengers and aircraft to it.

The majority of flights were able to depart on Thursday and Friday, albeit after lengthy delays.

Despite five hours of high-level informal talks between airport workers' unions and airport management on Friday, no compromise was reached.

Management accuses the strikers of blackmail, while the unions accuse Budapest Airport of flouting labour laws in its attempts to break the strike.

Workers are unhappy with restructuring plans involving changes to working conditions, and are demanding reassurances that there will be no redundancies before 2010.

An indefinite strike was called after talks between management and airport workers' unions broke down on Tuesday afternoon. (dpa)