Heathrow is facing a strike by refuellers this week after they rejected a revised pay offer, the Unite union has said.
Unite warned that the three-day strike by staff at refuelling firm AFS, which is being held from Thursday to Sunday, would cause delays for hundreds of flights at Britain’s busiest airport.
Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) provides fuelling services to more than 70 airlines at the airport including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, United, SAS, Air France, Emirates, Delta, JAL, KLM and Singapore Airlines.
Heathrow said it was aware of proposed industrial action.
“We are in discussions with our airline partners on what contingency plans they can implement, including using other fuel suppliers already operating at the airport,” a spokesperson said.
Airlines enter into ground handling contracts to provide key services like fuelling. AFS is one of these suppliers.
Heathrow previously told airlines to stop selling summer flights and imposed a passenger limit of 100,000 a day – a daily cut of 4,000.
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The airport previously said ground handling was one of the key areas where it was facing staffing issues.
About 93% of union members at AFS who voted supported the strike after having gone without a pay hike for three years, Unite said.
