Heathrow security officers announce summer strikes

Security officers at Heathrow airport will take part in a fresh wave of strikes this summer that could affect travellers at the UK's busiest airport.

Around 2,000 officers who are members of the Unite union will walk out on 31 days between 24 June and 27 August.

The action will affect Terminals 3 and 5 as well as campus security, and could lead to queues at security.

Unite described it as "a major escalation" in its pay dispute with the airport.

It added that workers had rejected a "below inflation pay offer of 10.1%".

In previous strikes, which appeared to have little impact due to Heathrow's contingency measures, Terminal 3 workers had not been involved.

Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world and people from all over the UK could be affected, says the BBC's Transport Correspondent Katy Austin.

The walkouts coincide with busy times for travel including the Eid festival (28, 29 and 30 June), the beginning of the school holidays (21, 22, 23 and 24 July) and the August bank holiday (24, 25, 26 and 27 August).

A Heathrow spokesperson said it will do "everything" it can to minimise disruption during the strikes.

"Unite has already tried and failed to disrupt the airport with unnecessary strikes on some of our busiest days and we continue to build our plans to protect journeys during any future action.

"The simple fact remains that the majority of colleagues do not support Unite's strikes. There is a two-year inflation-beating pay rise ready for colleagues, if only Unite would allow them to have a say".

They added that talks to resolve the dispute with Unite would continue.

The strikes come at a tough time for Heathrow which is struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic

The airport's operator recorded a £139m loss in the first three months of this year.