World Cup fans could see themselves stuck in travel chaos if airline workers vote to go on strike.
More than 700 transport, cargo and ground staff are due to vote today on whether to walk out of their roles at Heathrow Airport over pay.
If it goes ahead, the strikes will begin just before the Qatar football tournament kicks off on November 20.
Unite, which is holding the ballot along with workers from Menzies and Dnata, has said the action will disrupt football supporters' journeys if it goes ahead.
Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said: "Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption and delays across Heathrow, especially for football supporters travelling to the World Cup.
"However, this dispute is entirely of Dnata’s and Menzies' own making and they know what to do to resolve this, which is to make our members a fair pay offer."
Qatari Airlines is likely to be impacted, along with Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Cathay-Pacific and Emirates.
The ballot runs from today until November 3, with the exact strike date yet to be released.
As two weeks' notice needs to be given before the industrial action can go ahead, the earliest date for a strike will be November 17.
Unite said that workers have been offered a five per cent rise by Dnata, while Menzies workers' pay bump ranges from between two per cent to six per cent.
With inflation running at above 12 per cent in the UK, both offers represent a significant pay cut.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Both Dnata and Menzies can easily afford to make our members a fair pay offer and should do so.
"No matter how the employers present the offers on the table, they are substantial real-terms pay cuts and unacceptable to our members.
"Unite is dedicated to defending and enhancing our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and the workers at Heathrow will receive the union’s complete support."
Brits are expected to make up a major part of the travel fan force heading for Qatar this winter.
U.S. tourists make up 26 per cent of such visitors, with Canadians second at 10 per cent and Britons third at nine per cent.
A major issue for those travelling remains the amount of accommodation available in the country.
Qatar Tourism said there were 31,123 hotel rooms in the country at the end of the first quarter, but FIFA has booked 80 per cent of those for players, guests and officials during the tournament.
FIFA is expected to release rooms it will not need into the market over the next few weeks.
Dubai on the other hand has 115,000 hotel rooms and 25,000 rental apartments, travel data firm OAG said last week.
Qatar Airways and flydubai, working together, will operate some 54 flights a day between Dubai and Qatar, versus just six scheduled previously, OAG said.
Flight bookings to Qatar from the UAE and nine other countries have risen 10-fold compared with before the pandemic, travel analysis group Forward Keys said,
From the UAE, they have rocketed 103 times compared with 2016 - the last year before the UAE joined other Arab countries in a boycott of Qatar that halted direct flights. The boycott ended in early 2021.
"The UAE's strong showing is explained by a shortage of accommodation in Qatar," ForwardKeys said, adding many fans were expected to stay in Dubai.
The strong demand comes despite the requirement to present a negative Covid test to enter Qatar.
A spokesperson for dnata ltd UK said: ““dnata was the first ground services provider in the UK airport community to offer a pay rise to its staff in response to the cost-of-living crisis, with a 10% increase for all staff (14.7% for HGV Drivers) in December 2021.
“We have now offered a further 5.5% increase backdated to 1 April 2022 and to date we are the only ground services provider at UK airports to offer pay increases which fully compensates the effects of inflation since the Covid pandemic, with the total increase since December 2021 equating to 15.5% (20.2% for HGV Drivers).
"We believe our offer is extremely competitive and further protects our employees as much as possible from the effects of increasing inflation.
“Further, the same offer has also been overwhelmingly accepted by dnata Airport Operations staff who are GMB Union members at London Heathrow and we are therefore very surprised and disappointed that Unite has chosen the path of potential industrial action whilst stating they will not enter into further discussions with the Company unless the offer starts at a 9% wage increase.
“Despite the ballot, we continue to proactively engage with our employees to discuss the value and benefits of our offer and we remain entirely open to negotiations with Unite with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement that will avoid industrial action.”
Heathrow declined to comment. The Mirror attempted to contact Menzies.
