A strike by refuellers at Britain's busiest airport Heathrow is set to go ahead later this week and cause delays for hundreds of flights after workers rejected a revised pay offer, labour union Unite has said.
Workers employed by Aviation Fuel Services plan to strike from early Thursday through to early Sunday, Unite said in a statement.
Unite said AFS was responsible for refuelling half of the non-British Airways traffic at Heathrow.
Affected airlines included Air France, American, Delta, Emirates, KLM, Singapore, United and Virgin Atlantic, it added.
"AFS is wholly owned by incredibly wealthy energy companies who are entirely able to provide our members with a decent pay increase," said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
"This is yet another example of energy companies boosting profits at the expense of workers."
News of the strike comes as official data showed UK wages being eroded at a record pace because of decades-high inflation.
Unite said AFS staff had rejected a pay increase of 10%, with British annual inflation set to top that amount this year on soaring energy and food prices.
Following news of the stoppages, Heathrow said it was in discussions with airlines over "contingency plans they can implement, including using other fuel suppliers already operating at the airport".
Last week, Heathrow Airport announced it had introduced a cap on passenger numbers this summer as the aviation sector struggles to cope with demand for travel.
No more than 100,000 daily passengers will be able to depart from 12 July until 11 September.
Airlines planned to operate flights with a daily capacity averaging 104,000 seats over that period, according to Heathrow.
The airport said it has ordered airlines to "stop selling summer tickets to limit the impact on passengers".
Additional reporting PA
