British Airways has won a court injunction to stop cabin crew from going on strike.
BA had launched the challenge at London's High Court, arguing there had been an irregularity in the ballot of airline staff by the Unite Union.
Cabin crew were due to start a five-day walkout from midnight although last minute talks to resolve the dispute are still continuing.
In a statement, BA said: ‘We are delighted for our customers that Unite's plans for extreme and unjustified strike action cannot go ahead.
‘We are sorry the court judgment cannot undo the disruption already suffered by some customers who were due to travel during the early days of the union's industrial action.
‘As Unite knew, we had to announce last Thursday the rearrangement of our Heathrow schedule to give customers as much notice as possible about changes to their travel plans necessitated by the strike call.
‘Ash disruption permitting, we will aim to restore a full flying programme at Heathrow by the weekend. We will also offer a full programme at Gatwick and London City, as planned.
‘We hope all sections of Unite, including the leaders of the cabin crew branch Bassa, will take this opportunity to pause and focus on achieving the early and peaceful end to this dispute which the travelling public and all our employees want.’
