Workers at Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick airports have voted in favour of industrial action over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The action is likely to cause some disruption to flights because the August Bank Holiday is one of the busiest weekends of the year for airports in the UK.

However, the action will affect only a small number of airlines, and at Stansted no official action will take place until at least Tuesday, if at all.

At Gatwick, 94 Swissport staff, out of a total 928 have voted in favour of industrial action for three days. The workers have voted to work to rule with a ban on overtime between August 27 and 29.

It will affect passengers travelling with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Thomson, Flybe and Monarch, but the airport owners say disruption will be minimal.

At Manchester Airport, less than 10 per cent of Swissport staff have voted in favour of action from Thursday, affecting flights with Etihad, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Monarch among other carriers.

A spokesperson at Manchester said: “We’d like to reassure passengers travelling over the bank holiday weekend that because the potential strike action only affects 300 staff out of a workforce of 20,000 at the airport, major disruption is highly unlikely. We continue to advise people to come to the airport as normal.”

At Stansted, union members have voted in favour of action, but strikes will not take place until after Bank Holiday Monday, if at all, as the unions are yet to serve notice, which must be done seven days in advance.

This will come as a relief to passengers flying with airlines such as Ryanair, Monarch and Thomson, which are served by Swissport staff.

The Swissport workers are lobbying for a pay increase to all employees, but the company’s managers say it is incurring heavy losses due to a 19 per cent reduction in flight volumes this year.

Strikes are ongoing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport due to action taken by Servisair staff, but airport managers say it is business as usual because extra staff have been drafted in to cover for the strikers. (Via Times)

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