Negotiators are hopeful the Bank Holiday strike can be avoided

BA negotiator Mike Street said that substantial progress had been made at talks on Thursday with leaders of the GMB and T&G unions.

GMB chief negotiator Ed Blissett said he was "more confident than ever" that the strike would be called off.

Thousands of check-in staff and baggage handlers will stage a 24-hour walkout on Friday 27 August if the talks fail.

Emerging from Thursday's talks, Mr Blissett said significant progress had been made.

"I am very hopeful of reaching a resolution to this dispute," he said.

"We are within touching distance of a deal although there is still a little way to go.

"BA has given us a new document which we will consider overnight but I am more confident than ever that we will not have a strike."

Progress

Mr Street, BA's director of customer service and operations, had said earlier that there would be "no new offer on the one tabled 36 hours ago" by the airline.

But he, too, saw "substantial progress".

"I am very much more confident," he said.

Check BA's latest share price Q&A: BA passenger rights BA strike would dent profits

"I hope we can bring this to a satisfactory conclusion."

If the strike still goes ahead, airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh will be hit by massive disruption at a time when BA estimates it carries 100,000 passengers a day.

The airline had offered workers a revised deal of an 8.5% pay rise as well as a one-off payment of �1,000 if they take less than 16 days sick leave between October 2004 and September 2006.

BA says its staff take an average 17 days off sick each year, against a UK average of seven days.

Unions say the company should not link pay to absence rates.