A ten-day strike by security personnel at the British airport kicks off today at London-Heathrow airport. Approximately 1,400 employees, belonging to the Unite trade union, abstain from work until 11.59 pm on Easter Sunday 9 April. The protest stems from the failure to agree on wages between the workers' representatives and the airport management company.

The strike particularly involves the security personnel of Terminal 5, used exclusively by the British Airways, and the security operators responsible for checking cargo at the airport. Meanwhile, to minimize the expected "serious delays and cancellations" to air connections, the manager of Heathrow has announced that it is enlisting 1,000 more employees to assist passengers at the terminals.

As a result, British Airways said it stopped selling airline tickets during the strike days, and canceled about 5% of its scheduled connections during the protest period. The salary negotiations with the union stalled after the rejection of the offer of salaries increased by 10% backdated to 1 January and a lump sum payment of 1306 Euros.