London Stansted airlines and passengers face yet another wave of disruptions following a vote by the airport's baggage handlers and check-in staff to strike during the August Bank Holiday weekend in a dispute over pay.

Some 500 employees of Swissport International represented by GMB and TGWU will conduct separate day-long strikes Aug. 26-27 and again Aug. 28-29, disrupting the Bank Holiday weekend.

"Our members at Stansted deeply regret having to take this type of action but because of [Swissport's] action have been left with no alternative," said GMB's Gary Pearce. He warned the action will "severely disrupt" Ryanair, easyJet and charter flights out of STN during the holiday.

Stating that passengers have suffered enough, Swissport called on the unions to enter into mediated talks "to try to find a quick and agreeable resolution to this dispute." Swissport is owned by Grupo Ferrovial, which also owns STN after buying BAA in June.

Separately, the Stansted Airline Consultative Committee called on the UK Office of Fair Trade to address what it alleges is "the ongoing failure of BAA to provide facilities at Stansted Airport that meet their requirements and those of the traveling public." The airline users of STN are quarreling with BAA over its ?4 billion-plus plan to expand the airport, which is mainly used by LCCs.

"Although users unanimously support the expansion of the airport, BAA is using this opportunity to waste billions on gold-plated facilities in order to increase the profits it is allowed to earn by the regulator," Stansted ACC Chairman David O'Brien said, adding that the result would be a tripling of airport charges, leading to higher fares being charged.