British Airways¹ has said it hopes to operate just over half its flights from Heathrow, after a cabin crew strike was ruled illegal by the High Court.

英国航空公司称，英国高等法院判定空服人员罢工为非法之后，公司希望希思罗机场一半的航班可以起飞。

Gatwick should see a full schedule, but several hundred flights from other airports will still be cancelled.

BA said the last-minute ruling came too late for planes to be reinstated（恢复） .

Meanwhile, the Unite union, whose members had planned to walk out for five days from midnight, said it would launch a legal challenge later.

Third ballot²

On Monday, a High Court judge decided³ the strike was illegal, because the union had failed to tell its members about the number of spoilt ballot papers（损坏的选票） in the last strike vote.

Unite is said to be furious（狂怒的，激烈的） with the ruling, and says it will begin legal proceedings⁴ later on Tuesday.

It pledged a third ballot of members if its appeal was unsuccessful.

The BBC's Brian Milligan said: "While BA says it's delighted, the strike isn't going ahead, it also knows its victory could well be temporary.

"With the dispute itself unsettled, the threat of a strike has merely been shifted until later in the summer."

Earlier, BA apologised to some customers whose travel plans would be affected⁵.

BA boss Willie Walsh said the strike had been "unjustified" and he hoped the injunction（命令，禁令） would now give those involved in the dispute time to pause and reflect on the issues.

Unite union's Tony Woodley was furious at the High Court ruling

Unite joint⁶ leader Tony Woodley said "irrespective of（不顾） how many technicalities the company found", it would not stop the union balloting⁷ its members again.

"Its implication is that it is now all but impossible to take legally protected strike action against any employer who wishes to seek an injunction on even the most trivial grounds," he said.

The airline and union had been in talks at Acas on Monday to try to find a way forward on disagreements over BA's cost-cutting plans.

But they came to an end when the court injunction decision was known.

In his ruling, Mr Justice McCombe said: "I am unable to say it is sufficiently⁸ clear that the union took the steps required by law at the time they were required."

And he said that the "balance of convenience" in his view required the granting（同意，准予） of an injunction.

BA and Unite are also still at odds⁹ over staff who have been disciplined or have lost travel perks¹⁰（不平等，几率） because of involvement in previous strikes.

The first strike had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, ending on 22 May, with the three further strikes planned to begin on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June.