British Airways has cancelled "nearly 100 per cent" of its flights as pilots begin two-day strike action.
Members of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) are taking their first-ever industrial action against the airline in a dispute over pay.
The 48-hour walk out will see more than 100,000 passengers affected with most of the airline's flights, which can be up to 850 a day, expected to be cancelled.
This morning BA said on its website that it had "no option but to cancel nearly 100pc (of) our flights".
It added: "We understand the frustration and disruption BALPA's strike action has caused you. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this."
The company also said that it is "ready and willing" to resume talks with BALPA after it said that it had offered a pay rise of 11.5pc over three years.
However, BALPA says its members wanted a bigger share of the company's profits.
BA's statement continued: "Unfortunately, with no detail from BALPA on which pilots would strike, we had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100pc of our flights."
At the time of writing, British Airways flights from Manchester Airport are largely unaffected, but it's expected that flights to Heathrow airport will been cancelled.
BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton said that BA "needs to wake up and realise its pilots are determined to be heard."
It is said that the strike will cost BA £40m a day with BALPA adding that the dispute could be settled for £5m.
BA has spent weeks offering refunds to passengers or the option to re-book to another date of travel or an alternative airline.
