More than 1,400 security workers employed by Heathrow at Terminal 5 will walk out for 10 days starting this Friday (31 March), with the action set to continue through to Easter Sunday (9 April).

The Unite union said the strike was a result of Heathrow failing to offer its members a fair pay increase, with the airport’s offer of 10% falling below the current real rate of inflation (13.4%).

Unite regional coordinating officer Wayne King said the action would cause "huge disruption and delays" at Heathrow over the Easter holiday period. TTG has approached Heathrow for comment.

In a statement, BA said Heathrow had imposed a restriction on departing passengers during the strike period which would necessitate a 5% reduction in its schedule, amounting to it cancelling around 16 roundtrips a day.

The cancellations will predominantly impact multi-frequency short-haul routes, said BA. In addition, BA said Heathrow has asked all airlines flying from Heathrow to stop selling tickets on strike days.

BA said it was contacting customers to apologise, and that it was rebooking as many customers as possible onto other BA services or services with other carriers. "We expect the vast majority of customers will be able to travel within 24 hours of their originally planned flight."

"Following Heathrow’s requirement for us to reduce the number of passengers travelling during the period of its employees’ proposed strike action, we’ve regrettably had to make a small number of adjustments to our schedule," said a BA spokesperson.

"We’ve apologised to customers whose travel plans have been affected and have offered them a range of options, including rebooking onto a new flight with us or another airline, or requesting a full refund. Our teams are continuing to work closely with Heathrow to ensure that our customers’ journeys run smoothly."