HEATHROW Airport passengers have avoided strike action today with flights with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic continuing to fly.
The airport originally cancelled 177 flights which were due to fly to and from the airport today.
However, British Airways has confirmed that all flights will be reinstated this morning.
Virgin Atlantic passengers are still being diverted from London Heathrow to London Gatwick, according to the BBC.
Most flights are planned to go ahead with United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa cancelling a number of routes to Europe and the US.
An Emirates spokesperson told Khaleej Times that the 11:25am flight from London Heathrow to Dubai will instead fly from Birmingham Airport.
Cancelled flights on Monday
- 8:40am United Airlines to Zurich
- 8:55am United Airlines to Geneva
- 9am Virgin Atlantic to New York
- 9:10am United Airlines to Stuttgart
- 10:05am British Airways to Vienna
- 11:30am Lufthansa to Frankfurt
- 12:10pm United Airlines to Duesseldorf
- 1:15pm Air Canada to Mumbai
- 1:30pm Virgin Atlantic to New York
- 1:45pm United Airlines to Lisbon
- 2:35pm United Airlines to Stuttgart
- 2:50pm United Airlines to Hamburg
- 3:50pm Virgin Atlantic to Paris
- 4pm British Airways to Doha
- 4:05pm Virgin Atlantic to New York
- 5:15pm British Airways to Los Angeles
- 5:15pm Aeroflot to Moscow
- 5:50pm Lufthansa to Munich
- 8:10pm Virgin Atlantic to Boston
- 10:20pm American Airlines to Tel Aviv
However, the strike tomorrow could still go ahead.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "Unite have chosen to postpone their strike action on Monday 5 August. Strike action on Tuesday 6 August is still scheduled to go ahead.
"We will continue talks with Unite tomorrow and we remain hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action.
"Airlines may choose to reinstate impacted flights. We regret that passengers have been inconvenienced by this and urge them to contact their airline for up to date information on the status of their service."
In a statement, Unite explained: "Tomorrow’s (Monday 5 August) strike by Unite members working for Heathrow Airport set to start 00:01 hrs has been suspended to allow for further talks at Acas tomorrow.
"Under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas, tomorrow’s talks will involve senior directors from Heathrow Airport and senior Unite officials with the aim of averting a second day of planned strike action set to start at 00:01 and finish at 23:59 on Tuesday 6 August."
There are 91 airlines that operate out of Heathrow. British Airways, which is based at Heathrow, is expected to be one of the most heavily affected.
A strike involving more than 4,000 security guards, firefighters, engineers, passenger service operatives and passenger service drivers was planned to start at 12.01am on Monday and finish at 11.59pm on Tuesday.
They were planned as part of a series of walk outs over pay last month.
Unite said that around 88,000 passengers could have been affected if the industrial action goes ahead.
Concerns holidaymakers have slammed the airport for refusing to reveal which flights would be cancelled.
Will I get my money back if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
If your flight is cancelled, you have the legal right to either a full refund within seven days or a replacement flight to your destination.
This applies for whatever reason your flight was cancelled or how long before you were told it would no longer be be flying.
If your flight is delayed by three hours or more and you were flying to or from a European airport, or with an EU-based airline such as Ryanair or British Airways then you can claim compensation up to €250 (£229) for short-haul flights and €400 (£367) for mid-haul flights and €600 (£530) for long-haul flights.
But the airline might not payout if it's out of their control, for example, due to bad weather or strikes.
You can find out more here.
More to follow…
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