British Airways is facing the threat of new disruption this summer after the Unite union unveiled plans to ballot check-in staff over strike action at London’s Heathrow airport. The union on Monday said it would ballot 500 staff at the UK’s busiest airport in a dispute over pay — a vote in favour would pave the way for action in July to cause maximum disruption during the summer peak. Unite said BA management had refused to reverse a 10 per cent pay cut imposed during the pandemic, and that its members were “rightly furious and ready to take action”. “A strike by our members will make an immediate impact on the service to customers, so I urge BA to get a grip and restore these workers’ pay immediately,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. BA said an offer of a 10% pay rise for this year had been rejected by staff, and that the union’s plans were “extremely disappointing”. The 500 staff being balloted represents about half of the Heathrow customer services team. The ballot will run from June 7 to 27. A strike would be a significant new headache for the travel industry, which for weeks has been plagued by a barrage of cancellations and delays as airlines have struggled to find enough staff to cater for a surge in demand for flying following the end of most pandemic travel restrictions. BA has been forced to cancel 10% of its flight schedules between March and October, and its CE Sean Doyle this month overhauled the airline’s senior management. EasyJet customers have also suffered significant delays and cancellations over the past few days.<br/>
oneworld
With Sri Lanka reeling under its worst economic crisis, its national airline has begun refuelling at Thiruvananthapuram international airport. Now owned by the Adani group, the airport since Sunday is seeing the SriLankan Airlines fly down for refuelling. A few of their long haul flights to Australia and Europe have already availed the services according to sources, and more of their flights are expected in the coming days. The average time taken to fly from Colombo to here is around 35 minutes and is the closest airport from there.<br/>