Tens of thousands of passengers are affected as British Airways' two-day strike begins.
The company is said to be losing up to half a billion kronor daily.
The British Airways terminal at London's Heathrow Airport was virtually empty on Monday morning after the airline was forced to cancel 1,700 flights when 4,000 pilots went on a two-day strike.
According to British Airways, it was impossible to predict how many pilots would come to work and which flights would be affected, and they therefore had no choice but to cancel almost one hundred percent of their departures.
”"We understand that the strike is frustrating for our customers. After several months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this. We are prepared to return to talks with the pilot union," British Airways writes in an email to TT.
The conflict between BA and the pilots' union Balpa has been ongoing since last summer. The company's pilots previously rejected a pay increase of 11.5 percent over three years, which was offered by British Airways in July.
According to the Financial Times, an average pilot earns £90,000 in annual salary, while pilots at the very highest salary level earn £167,000 plus £16,000 in various allowances.
BA has now threatened the striking pilots with losing a number of benefits if they choose to continue. This includes the right for pilots and their families to buy tickets at a 90 percent discount and, depending on the number of years of service, the right to free business class tickets with British Airways.
However, the pilot union has announced that a new strike is planned for September 27th.
For the Swedish part, around ten departures to and from Sweden are affected and according to Swedavia's information, these are five departures from Arlanda and three from Landvetter, both with the final destination being Heathrow.
”"The travelers who have been affected have been contacted by British Airways well in advance before the strike broke out, and have had their trips rebooked through their current airline or tour operator," says Ellen Laurin at Swedavia's press service.
Swedavia urges travelers who have further questions to contact their airline or tour operator directly.
Source: TT
