Friday, August 12 2005 09:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: All British Airways flights in and out of London's main Heathrow Airport have been cancelled until 2230 hours IST (1700 GMT) today (Aug 12, 2005), BA has said.

"British Airways has cancelled all flights into and out of London Heathrow Airport until at least 1700 GMT on Friday 12 August," BA said in a statement yesterday (Aug 11, 2005).

The airline was forced to cancel all of its flights from Europe's busiest Airport beginning yesterday after 1,000 staff members stopped work out of sympathy for employees who were sacked by a US flight catering firm.

"Due to the uncertainty of the industrial situation at Heathrow and aircraft and flying crew being out of position, the airline has taken the decision to cancel all Heathrow flights until tomorrow (Aug 13, 2005) evening," the statement said.

BA said it was keeping the situation under review and was doing all it could to return operations to normal as soon as possible.

The airline advised customers due to travel Friday not to go to Heathrow, but contact BA or their travel agent to either rebook or refund their travel plans.

The industrial action came a day after Gate Gourmet fired up to 800 employees amid a simmering row over a restructuring plan.

"This unprecedented move is a result of the crippling operational impact of unofficial industrial action by staff from the Transport and General Workers Union," British Airways' chief executive Sir Rod Eddington said.