BA long-haul flights leave from Gatwick amid strike

All long-haul and some short-haul flights are operating from Gatwick

All long-haul flights and many short-haul services are still operating out of Gatwick Airport on the first day of the British Airways (BA) crew strike.

Cabin crew staff are striking over pay and working conditions.

Talks between the airline and the Unite union, which represents the crew, collapsed on Friday.

The airport has requested that all passengers check whether their flight has been cancelled and, if so, not to travel to the airport.

Jane Caisley, from Crowborough, East Sussex, was due to fly to Tel-Aviv but has had to use a coach, train and plane to reach her destination.

Loss of privileges

She said: "I'm quite angry, particularly with BA.

"It was a very stressful week and now instead of it being an eight or nine hour journey it's going to be an 18-hour journey and we're not going to get to our hotel until about three or four in the morning. It's incredibly inconvenient."

BA said that 65% of passengers would still be able to reach their destinations during the first three-day strike, even though a total of 1,100 BA flights out of the 1,950 scheduled to operate would be cancelled.

Staff have been told by the company that if they strike they will lose perks, including heavily-discounted travel fares.

A further four days of action are set to begin on 27 March, although BA has said this weekend's action could disrupt flights into next week as well.