Airport staff at Gatwick sound strike warning

London: Travellers face severe delays at Britain's second biggest airport over the August bank holiday weekend after more than 300 baggage and check-in staff voted to strike over pay.

Staff at south London airport Gatwick plan to walk out on the August 25 bank holiday and again on August 29 after rejecting a pay offer from airline services firm Swissport, owned by Spain's Ferrovial.

A spokesman for Swissport said it was too early to estimate the level of disruption, but added that the company thought it had made a fair pay offer and would now work at minimising disruption for the travelling public.

He said it was not yet clear whether pay negotiations with the union were continuing.

Contingency plans

Gatwick-owner BAA, the airports operator also owned by Ferrovial, said it was looking at contingency plans in the event of the strike going ahead.

"Our aim is to minimise the disruption," a spokeswoman said.

Trade union Unite said in a statement Swissport offered a pay increase of 3 per cent backdated to July, compared to the union demand of over 5 per cent.

"Our members are already struggling to keep up with rising food and energy costs. This pay offer is an insult," officer Steve Turner said.