Airlines cut services over strike

01 December 2011 09:44

Virgin is among the airlines offering a ruduced service from Heathrow Airport on Wednesday due to the strike

Virgin is among the airlines offering a ruduced service from Heathrow Airport on Wednesday due to the strike

The public sector strike planned for Wednesday has scuppered the travel plans of hundreds of people, as airlines cancel flights in and out of Heathrow airport.

Travellers on the Middle East carrier Etihad Airways will need to check their travel insurance details after the firm confirmed it will no longer be running two Abu Dhabi to Heathrow services, as well as one flight from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi.

But it's not the only airline to shun Heathrow during the scheduled period of industrial unrest, as Greek firm Aegean Airlines has axed one flight to Athens and one travelling in the opposite direction.

To protect itself against possible losses, Etihad will also be running another of its services from the United Arab Emirates capital to London at reduced capacity.

The changes are due to the fact that UK Border Agency staff will be taking part in the strike. Predicting problems, the airport's operator BAA wrote to airlines warning that passengers could be subject to late services and long queues. To combat this, the operator asked airlines to only fly planes half full on Wednesday.

However, British Airways said it hopes to run a full service as it has so far not cancelled a single flight. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic said it had cut passenger numbers on Wednesday by more than 1,000.

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