More than 1,400 Unite union members working at Terminal 5 are set to walk out from Friday (31 March) in a dispute over pay. The union says the 10% pay increase put forward by the airport is unacceptable given the current rate of inflation.

“Workers can’t be expected to accept real-term pay cuts as shareholders and bosses get richer and richer,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. “So if the strike is to be averted, there needs to be more real money put on the table to make a decent pay rise."

Should the strike go ahead, the action will primarily impact British Airways as the terminal’s main user. BA on Tuesday (28 March) confirmed it would pre-emptively cancel 16 round-trips a day to meet a request from Heathrow to reduce its schedule by 5% during the strike period.

The airport claims it will put in place several contingency measures to keep operations going during the strike, including deployment of 1,000 additional staff. Unite has warned travellers will experience severe delays and disruption over the next 10 days if the talks fail.