British Airways cancels all Heathrow flights until Friday Evening

British Airways has cancelled all flights into and out of London Heathrow airport until at least 6pm on Friday 12 August.

This follows the suspension of all British Airways' Heathrow flights this afternoon as a result of unofficial industrial action by staff from catering company Gate Gourmet. This unofficial action spread to British Airways ground staff.

Due to the uncertainty of the industrial situation at Heathrow and both aircraft and flying crew being out of position, the airline has taken the decision to cancel all Heathrow flights until Friday evening.

Sir Rod Eddington, British Airways' chief executive, said, "This unprecedented move is a result of the crippling operational impact of unofficial industrial action by staff from the Transport and General Workers union.

"Because we have not had sufficient airport staff to operate flights into or out of Heathrow, nearly 100 of our aircraft and 1,000 pilots and cabin crew are in the wrong places around the world and we simply cannot mount a robust operation any earlier.

"I would like to apologise unreservedly to our customers. It is a huge disappointment to us that we have become embroiled in someone else's dispute. I have urged the Transport and General Workers Union and Gate Gourmet managers to resolve this dispute and end this misery for our customers."

The airline stated it is keeping the situation under constant review and will do everything it can to get its operation back to normal as soon as it can.

Five other airlines (Finnair, SriLankan Airlines, British Mediterranean, GB Airways and Qantas)  have also been impacted and travellers planning to fly into or out of Heathrow should contact their travel agent or respective airline to arrange a refund or to rebook their travel plans. In the UK there is a number to call BA's hotline: 0800 727800.

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