OPERATIONS at Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) airfields are being grounded this week as check-in, security, baggage handling, and ground crew workers take strike action.

A series of 24-hour strikes are now well underway across 11 HIAL airports after a ballot in December saw Unite members vote  73.5 per cent in favour of a strike, and 92.8 per cent in favour of action short of a strike.

Unite industrial officer Shauna Wright said: “Unite believes our hard working members who keep airports operating in isolated and rural communities across Scotland deserve far more than what is currently on the table.”