Staff at Britain’s second largest airport, Gatwick Airport, will strike for eight days in late July and early August, leading to cancellations and disruption of holidays for thousands of passengers at the height of the winter season.
The Unite union said about 950 workers, including ground handling agents, baggage handlers and check-in agents, would walk out in a pay dispute for four days, from July 28 to August 1, then for another four days, from August 4 to 8. ,
“Given the scale of the industrial action, disruptions, delays and cancellations across the airport are inevitable,” Unite said in a statement.
The airport said it would assist airlines with their contingency plans to ensure flights operate as planned.
EasyJet, TUI and British Airways operate hundreds of daily flights from Gatwick, which is the hub for flights to southern European coastal destinations.
British airline EasyJet has already cut 2% of its flight schedule for this summer, mainly from Gatwick, due to air traffic control problems in Europe.
(Reporting by William James, Sachin Ravikumar; French version Edited by Diana Mandia, Kate Entringer)
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