BAA is disappointed that talks with workers unions have not succeeded in resolving this dispute as a spokesman for BAA said. "As we have said throughout we believe the threat of industrial action is unnecessary because we have guaranteed that existing workers will not be affected by the change to the pension scheme."

"We gave further details of an improved guarantee to deal with issues raised by existing employees. We also provided more assurances about the highly competitive replacement defined contribution scheme," the spokesman continued.

"We will continue to do all we can to resolve this dispute since we believe that a strike would not be in the interests of our passengers or our staff," the BAA's spokesman concluded.