Steve Witt, co-founder of Not Just Travel, said "you can’t blame staff" for wanting to increase their salaries as the cost of living in the UK increases.

"However, employers in the travel industry have a difficult tightrope to walk," he added. "A two-year black hole in income caused by Covid, followed by the rising cost of fuel and the current airport crisis creates difficulties for any airline.

"BA will want to do what’s right for its people, but they have to balance the books and turn a rotor, otherwise no one wins and ultimately the biggest losers are the customers."

Witt reassured that if the strikes go ahead this summer, they will only impact Heathrow and no other UK airports.

"We recommend customers book as normal," he continued. "Airports and airlines are working together to minimise disruption and good travel agents will ensure customers are fully protected in case anything does go wrong."

As an alternative, Witt highlighted how cruises from the UK "have never been better" in terms of "ease, offer and value", after 16 new ocean cruise ships and 12 new river cruise ships were launched since the start of the year.

"That means there are a lot of surplus beds sailing, and so there are great deals to be had," he added. "Cruise is proving increasingly popular with customers and is a huge growth market.

"It’s a great way to explore various destinations and cut out the stress of going to any airport, even if airports were working normally (which most are)."