BRITISH AIRWAYS flights from Ireland to Britain will not be affected by the three-day strike due to start tomorrow, according to the airline.
However, Irish passengers flying further with the airline are advised to contact their travel agents, with cancellations expected on long-haul destinations and some European routes.
London's Heathrow Airport will be the worst affected, with at least half BA's intercontinental flights cancelled and three-quarters of European services grounded. About two thirds of BA's long-haul flights from Gatwick are also expected to be cancelled.
The airline flies to Gatwick from Cork and Dublin and to Manchester from Cork and Shannon. A spokeswoman said the flights are operated by a subsidiary, British Airways Express, and these routes will operate as normal.
In a statement British Airways Express said all City-Flyer destinations from London's Gatwick Airport will also operate as normal. These destinations are: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bremen, Cologne, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Jersey, Guernsey, Leeds-Bradford, Luxembourg, Newcastle and Rotterdam.
The airline said yesterday it had implemented "contingency plans to fly as many customers as possible during the 72-hour cabin crew strike". It will provide a "scaled-down" service, including the use of temporary staff to replace striking cabin crew.
Talks collapsed on Sunday between the airline and the Transport and General Workers' Union, which represents 9,000 of BA's 12,000 in-flight attendants. The strike is due to start at 6 a.m. tomorrow.
The flight-attendants are refusing to accept an offer on pay and conditions because they say it has been imposed by BA. A smaller breakaway union, Cabin Crew 89, which has 3,000 members, has accepted the deal.
The company said customers due to fly with BA on flights affected by the strike could be re-booked on other BA services "on the nearest alternative days, offered a full refund, or, where space is available, transferred on to other airlines".
All British domestic flights and all European flights to and from Gatwick will operate normally.
The Association of British Travel Agents said things could "become very chaotic" when the British holiday season starts later this month and BA is unable to shift people on to other airlines.
Information on cancellations and delays will be on the airline's Internet site at www.british-airways.com/strike.