Gatwick airport: August ground-handling strikes suspended at the last minute

Passengers hoping to travel to or from the Sussex airport by train will be hit by rail strikes on 26 August and 2 September

Going places: Passengers at London Gatwick airport, where strikes by ground handlers have been called off (Simon Calder )

Strikes at Gatwick airport have been called off after an improved pay offer was made hours ahead of the walk-out.

Members of the Unite union employed by Red Handling were due to begin a strike on Friday 18 August in a dispute over pay, with eight days of industrial action planned – including over the August bank holiday weekend.

Unite had said that 216 flights could be hit by the walk-out, affecting 45,000 passengers.

But The Independent understands the ground handling firm made a last-minute improved offer – and that as a result the strikes have been suspended.

Red Handling runs check-in, baggage handling and aircraft dispatch for airlines including Norwegian, Norse Atlantic, TAP Portugal and Saudia.

A second strike, beginning on Friday 25 August, is still theoretically possible were the pay deal to be voted down, but this is thought most unlikely to go ahead.

Industrial action was also planned by Unite members working for Wilson James, the company that provides special assistance for passengers at Gatwick. That strike was called off earlier after an improved offer.

Tens of thousands of passengers planning to reach London Gatwick by train over the August bank holiday weekend will be hit by the next round of national rail strikes on Saturday 26 August.

The Gatwick Express service will not run, and only a skeleton service with reduced hours will operate on Thameslink and Southern.

The same pattern is expected during a second walk-out by members of the RMT union on Saturday 2 September.

The pressure on Gatwick’s single runway – which is the busiest in the world – became evident once again on Thursday afternoon, when the runway was temporarily closed for emergency repairs.

A dozen flights from Greece, Turkey and Croatia were diverted to seven different airports across southern England.

One inbound easyJet flight from the Greek island of Santorini was making good progress until 3.10pm, when it entered a holding pattern over East Sussex for 30 minutes.

Eventually the Airbus A320 flew a further 76 miles beyond Gatwick to Bournemouth airport. After refuelling the plane departed from the Dorset airport at 6pm and flew back to Gatwick, where it again had to hold before landing at 6.40pm – three and a half hours behind schedule.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “We did everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers, providing onward coach transfers to London Gatwick and aircraft continued to Gatwick once the runway reopened.

“Whilst the situation is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused. The safety of its customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.”

Two British Airways flights diverted to Stansted, and a third touched down at Heathrow.