BA extra strike flights 'will fly 65% of passengers'

Many BA flights will be grounded during the strike

British Airways says it will increase the number of flights during the forthcoming strike as more staff volunteer to work.

Earlier BA said it would be able to fly 60% of passengers during the first strike, but it now says extra staff will allow 65% to fly.

"The cabin crew offering to work ... has increased significantly," the company said in a statement.

The first strike by cabin crew is due to begin on 20 March.

The airline said that it expected the number of staff offering to stand in for strikers to increase further.

"The determination of our colleagues across the whole business to keep the flag flying this weekend is increasing," said BA's chief executive Willie Walsh.

"I am delighted by the numbers of cabin crew who have been getting in touch with us to express their disillusion with Unite's position.

"Our crews just want to work as normal, do their usual terrific job and look after our customers."

The majority of the extra staff were existing cabin crew employees, BA said, not retrained office staff.

US talks

The airline also said it was "pleased" that the number of other airlines offering to help fly passengers during the strike had increased from 50 on Monday to more than 60.

But Unite, the union representing BA cabin crew, accused the airline of "bluffing" over its staffing claims, and said that just 350 staff had agreed to stand in for strikers this weekend - not the 1,000 employees announced by BA.

What passengers are wanting to know, what the country is wanting to know is whether we can resolve this dispute

Gordon Brown

Brown and Cameron in strike clash

Who are the Teamsters?

Although BA has insisted it remains open to "meaningful" discussions, there seems little chance that the strike, due to begin on Saturday, will be averted.

A second strike is due to begin on 27 March.

Earlier Prime Minister Gordon Brown came under attack from Conservative leader David Cameron, who called Mr Brown's efforts to end the strike "feeble".

Meanwhile Unite has met with representatives of the Teamsters union in the US, which represents 40,000 workers in the US aviation industry.

Unite says it is briefing Teamsters representatives on the background to the industrial action.

But shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers told the BBC that Unite was seeking to "internationalise" the dispute, and prevent BA planes from landing at US airports during the strike dates.