Representatives from Unite and British Airways are meeting in London today to as the union prepares to call cabin crew out on strike over Christmas.

Ahead of the tales, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “I am delighted that British Airways has heeded our calls for talks.”

“It is only by getting round the table that we can find a solution to my members’ concerns.”

Travellers at airports across the UK are preparing for disruption, with workers at Swissport set to go on strike for two days on December 23rd and 24th.

Over 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew will walk out for 48 hours at 00.01 on Friday in a long-running pay dispute, and plans to seriously erode terms and conditions.

Unite members voted by 62.5 per cent to reject a 4.65 per cent three year pay deal for 2015-2017, which the union argues, is barely keeping pace with inflation.

The staff are also angry that detrimental changes to terms and conditions have been linked to the pay deal.

Unite national officer for civil air transport Oliver Richardson said: “Our members are only taking this industrial action as a last resort in a bid to reach a fair settlement – our members have not had a pay rise since 2014.

“The dispute has been compounded by the high-handed attitude of the management in making proposals that would seriously impact the workforce’s terms and conditions, such as freezing overtime payments.”