Strikes scheduled by airport workers in January have been scrapped, bringing relief to 1.3 million travellers.

The strikes were planned for January 14 and 17, for 24 and 48 hours respectively. The strikes would have crippled Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and brought knock-on effects of delays and cancellations for the days either side of the strike as aircraft and crew were realigned.

The decision to scrap the strikes follows agreement between airport workers and BAA management in a dispute over a final salary pension scheme.

A spokesman for Unite told Times Online: "The shop stewards have met this morning and have agreed to the proposals put forward by BAA on Monday. So all the strikes are off."

A further strike, planned for January 7, was called off in the days before Christmas.

Some January air travellers will still face disruption though, because of a strike planned by Virgin Atlantic cabin crew. The two 48-hour strikes are planned for January 9 and 10 and January 16 and 17.

The carrier has cancelled three flights on each day owing to the strikes, but hopes to operate the rest of its schedule as normal. The affected flights are between London and New York, Chicago, Boston and Nairobi. The full details are listed on Virgin's website.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive, Steve Ridgway said: "I would like to apologise to our passengers whose travel plans may be disrupted and reassure those who are travelling with us that our number one priority is to get them to their destination."

Those Virgin passengers whose flights have been cancelled can opt to receive a full refund, and anyone due to fly on the dates affected by strikes can rebook their flight for another date or route free of charge.

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