January turmoil for business fliers

Planned strike action by airport and airline workers threatens to make January 2008 a bad month for business travellers.

Members of the Unite union working for airport company BAA voted in December to strike in relation to a pension dispute.

Two 24-hour stoppages are planned on 7 and 14 January, with a 48-hour walkout scheduled for 17 and 18 January. The strikes will affect BAA's seven UK airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Southampton in England, and Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in Scotland.

A BAA spokesperson said: "We will continue to do all we can to resolve this dispute since we believe that a strike would not be in the interests of our passengers or our staff."

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic cabin crew belonging to Unite have also voted to strike after failing to negotiate a settlement in a long-running pay dispute. The first of two 48-hour stoppages will begin on 9 January, and a second will take place from 16 January.

Virgin Atlantic said that it would operate nearly all of its flights during the action, and is offering refunds to passengers booked on the three flights it will need to cancel on each strike day.

Commenting on the BAA action, David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "This series of strikes will cost the country millions of pounds at a time when the UK economy needs everyone pulling together to stave off an economic downturn in 2008.

"Unite must consider the long term implications of this decision to strike."