SCORES of passengers travelling to and from Bahrain to London have had to alter their travel arrangements after British Airways (BA) cancelled almost all its flights for yesterday and today following a pilots’ strike.
The airline, which operates two daily flights to and from Bahrain, carries on an average 250 passengers on each flight, according to travel agents in Bahrain.
BA124 leaves Bahrain at 1am, arriving at London’s Heathrow airport at 6.15am while the return flight, BA125, leaves Heathrow at 12.25pm and arrives in Bahrain at 9.05pm.
The airline said it had alerted its customers to the cancellation a few weeks ago, urging them to make alternative plans.
It also said it was offering “all affected customers full refunds or the option to re-book to another date of travel or alternative airline”, adding that it was working with partner airlines to schedule larger aircraft to carry as many passengers as possible.
The airline said it was forced to cancel “nearly 100 per cent” of its flights for yesterday and today after the pilots union went ahead with a strike.
The strike was called for the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) over a pay dispute with the airline.
“We are not aware of any passenger being stranded or facing a crisis,” a travel agent told the GDN yesterday.
“Maybe because the strike was planned and was being discussed widely.
“The airline also announced the cancellations on social media and people must have changed their itineraries.
“However, an average of at least 250 passengers fly daily to and from London and there should have been many who would have had their plans affected, especially with the schools reopening and summer vacations ending.”
A Bahrain resident on Saturday posted on Facebook that she had rescheduled her trip due to the anticipated strike.
“I was due to return to Bahrain tomorrow (Sunday, Sept 8) but British Airways pilots are threatening industrial inaction, so my daughter has rebooked my flight back to Bahrain on Sunday, September 22,” she said.
On its website, BA said it was open for talks with the pilots.
“We understand the frustration and disruption BALPA’s strike action has caused you,” it said in a message to its customers.
“After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this.
“Unfortunately, with no detail from BALPA on which pilots would strike, we had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100 per cent of our flights.
Talks
“We remain ready and willing to return to talks with BALPA.”
It added that customer teams, supported by additional colleagues were working to assist passengers to provide options, including a full refund or re-booking to a different date of travel or alternative airline.
It also said flights on BA CityFlyer, SUN-AIR and Comair were not affected, adding that it was working with partner airlines to schedule larger aircraft to take the maximum number of customers.
BALPA said on Sunday on Twitter that it had put forward a proposal to the carrier’s management last week, but had yet to receive a reply.
Vote
Members of the pilots union voted 93pc in favour of a strike in July. BALPA said last week that it would be willing to call it off if BA returned to the negotiating table.
The pilot’s union also intends to strike on September 27.
According to its website, BALPA represents more than 10,000 pilots in the UK – more than 85pc of all commercial pilots who fly there.
BA in Bahrain could not be reached for comment, while Bahrain Airport Authority said that it was not the authorised agency to comment on flight disruptions.
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