A strike planned for Tuesday at Heathrow has been suspended as thousands of airport workers vote on a new pay offer.

A stoppage planned for Monday was also called off, although some flights still had to be cancelled.

The Unite union said it would not be discussing the new pay package until its members had decided whether to accept it.

It added, however, that strikes already announced for 23 August and the following day had not been scrapped and would remain a possibility until the result of the ballot was known.

Heathrow said it remained “hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action”.

A spokesperson added: “We regret that passengers have been inconvenienced by this and urge them to contact their airline for up to date information on the status of their service.”

The previous pay offer was worth 7.3% over two-and-a-half years – Heathrow describing the package as being above RPI inflation, “competitive and fair”.

The airport added: “This is higher than the pay increases recently offered to public sector staff and Heathrow’s own managerial colleagues at 2.4%.”

But Unite members, including security staff, firefighters and engineers, voted heavily against it.

The airport’s managers and officials from Unite spent the weekend in talks which were chaired by the conciliation service, Acas.

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