Tomorrow’s strike at London Heathrow has been called off to the relief of anxious holidaymakers.
Passengers have been waiting nervously for more than 48 hours to find out if their summer breaks would be ruined.
But airport bosses today announced industrial action proposed for Tuesday has been postponed while they vote on a new pay offer.
Workers are still planning to walk out over the Bank Holiday weekend on August 23 and 24, which is set to cause further misery as many jet off for short breaks or come back from longer summer holidays.
Tomorrow’s strike at London Heathrow (terminal pictured today) has been called off to the relief of anxious holidaymakers
Holidaymakers soon flooded Heathrow Airport’s official Facebook page to with comments of relief after news of the postponed strike.
Nora Cox Fitzgerlad wrote: ‘Thank goodness! We fly back home tomorrow and have been very concerned. Such a relief!’, while Inna Allmark said: ‘What a relief!’.
One relieved passenger, who was due to fly to Berlin from Heathrow on Tuesday, told MailOnline: ‘The last thing I wanted to kickstart a holiday was the stress of queues, queues, queues’.
‘We were flying with BA who I knew had already cancelled over 80 flights. I was swapped over to a London City flight for tomorrow instead.
‘So, even though the strike has been called off, I’ve been pretty relieved since I had my flight change’.
A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘Unite has chosen to postpone its strike action on Tuesday 6th August. Strike action on 23rd and 24th August is still scheduled to go ahead.
‘Unite will now take an improved offer to its members and we remain hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action.
Passengers expressed their frustration and tried to get updates from the airport and airlines on Twitter
‘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.’
Unite had already called off a walkout due on Monday so that talks could continue.
Some flights have been cancelled but wide-scale disruption has been averted.
Unite said it would not be revealing the details of the improved offer until its members involved in the ongoing pay dispute have had an opportunity to consider and vote on the new package.
Passengers had been left in the dark over flight cancellations for the second day running, with many desperate to know if their planes will take off tomorrow – or even which airport to go to.
Three per cent of Monday’s flight were been blighted by the strike chaos, with 16 planes grounded and five moved to London Gatwick.
Abz Hussain, of London, was due to fly from Heathrow to Saudi Arabia for Hajj on Tuesday, but said his flight has been switched to Manchester.
The 34-year-old, who has paid more than £6,500 for his trip, said he has struggled to obtain information about what is happening from either Heathrow or the carrier, Saudi Arabian Airlines.
‘They can’t give an honest answer to simple questions,’ he said.
Holiday ruined: Scott Kinchlea and his girlfriend Chloe Donovan have had to pay £700 extra on top of their £850 Vienna holiday
‘Nobody has bothered to call us. We’ve been left in limbo. I have to pay money to go from London to Manchester.’
Kate Mortlock wrote on Twitter: ‘Family holiday booked for tomorrow to Dubai…. when will we know if the flight will be disruption? Travelling with children! #Heathrowstrikes #familyholiday #frustration #wewantogetaway’.
Hayden Wood wrote: ‘I have a flight to Budapest tomorrow at Heathrow at 8.45am for a festival.
‘When can I expect to receive more information as to whether the flight will be cancelled or delayed.’
Someone else posted: ‘Hello any news about tomorrow strike? I am travelling with two small kids & my wife.
‘For now the airline is saying flight is confirmed. I am worried about staying hours blocked at the airport with my small kids.’
Other families have been forced to pay for hotel accommodation as they waited overnight to find out if their flights would leave today.
Originally Heathrow said 177 flights would be cancelled today, but when today’s industrial action was called off at the eleventh hour, flyers were still unsure if they would be travelling.
They waited anxiously as airport bosses refused to reveal which cancelled flights had been reinstated.
Flights in and out of Heathrow tomorrow are at risk of being hit by the strike chaos.
Claire Leighton and her family were supposed to travel from Newcastle to Heathrow for their flight to Miami today.
But British Airways called them on Saturday to say the flight to Heathrow had been changed to Sunday, forcing them to stay overnight at a hotel, the costs of which they are attempting to claim back.
Mrs Leighton said: ‘We were meant to fly from Newcastle this morning but BA rang us on Saturday to say that the flight was changed to last night.
‘We were pleased that we made it here and didn’t miss our flight to Miami because that would have been much more expensive.
‘But it did mean we had to stay overnight at Heathrow and get a hotel which BA said they would not pay for.
‘We have asked today if we can claim back the hotel cost of £170 but so far we have not got anywhere.’
Kylie Dale from New Zealand had enjoyed a holiday in England and was looking forward to her family trip to Vienna but was left ‘on edge’ by news of the strikes.
She said: ‘We checked our flights immediately after seeing the strike disruption.
The couple, of Chelmsford, Essex, had to pay for a taxi to Stansted, new flights and replacement accommodation, which cost an extra £700
‘We were really worried because we don’t live here we couldn’t just go home and wait.
‘The airport and queues do not seem chaotic at the moment but I am still on edge that we might be affected by it.
‘We definitely got here earlier than we usually would because I have a young family and any disruption would be difficult for us.’
Scott Kinchlea and his girlfriend Chloe Donovan were forced to spend another £700 on their £850 holiday to Vienna after they were told their flight was cancelled and re-instated in the space of a few hours.
The 18-year-olds were looking forward to their first holiday together and paid for British Airways flights because ‘they thought it would be more reliable’.
They were due to fly from Heathrow yesterday evening but received a text from the airline at 3pm to say their plane wasn’t taking off.
After being told there were no other flights, they were advised to re-book from another airport.
The couple, of Chelmsford, Essex, had to pay for a taxi to Stansted, new flights and replacement accommodation, which cost an extra £700.
As they landed in Vienna, they received another text to say their original flight was still running – with less than three hours to go.
Members of the Unite union were due to walk out from one minute past midnight on Monday for 48 hours.
Thirty-seven flights have been cancelled at Heathrow today
The two sides met throughout the weekend under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas.
The union’s members, including security staff, firefighters and engineers have voted against a pay offer Heathrow said was worth 7.3 per cent over two-and-a-half years.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said passengers whose flights are cancelled must be rebooked onto an alternative flight or offered a refund.
The regulator added that passengers are not automatically entitled to additional compensation as industrial action carried out by airport workers is considered to be outside the control of airlines.
Airlines must offer free refreshments and access to make phone calls or send emails when flights are delayed for at least two hours on short haul routes, or four hours on long haul trips.
Naomi Leach, a consumer expert at Which? Travel, said it doesn’t look good for holidaymakers for the rest of the summer.
She said: ‘Sadly the disruption this August is set to continue.
‘All passengers affected by these cancellations are entitled to a full refund or to be rerouted on to another flight to their intended destination.
‘Holidaymakers should contact their airline before travelling and allow extra time at the airport in case of delays.’