A five-day strike by British Airways cabin crew has started after talks between the airline and union Unite at the weekend, once again, failed to reach a resolution. The industrial action will cause disruption to many of the airline’s passengers. Around 40 per cent of BA’s long-haul services out of Heathrow will be affected.

The strike is going ahead after BA had initially managed to avert industrial action by getting an injunction from the High Court. However, the ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals and the strike, which was due to start on May 18, was pushed back to today. Two more five-day walkouts are set to commence on May 30 and June 7 if talks between the airline and the union fail to come up with an alternative solution.

The proposed strikes could end up losing the airline around £100 million if they have the same effect as the two walkouts in March, which cost the flag-carrier £43 million. BA aims to minimise the disruption to passengers by staffing available aircraft with those who decide to ignore the pickets.

The airline has also rented an additional eight aircraft from charter firms. BA hopes to be able to accommodate around 70 per cent of those who already hold tickets, and has also rebooked a number of passengers onto other airlines including Iberia, American Airlines and Emirates.

BA aims to operate around half of its short haul operations from Heathrow and says that services from City and Gatwick will not be affected by the strike.