British Airways flights between Bermuda and London will be cancelled today for the second day running because of a strike by pilots.

The 2.55pm flight from Gatwick has been cancelled on both days, as well as the return flights scheduled for 8.10pm. The airline cancelled about 1,700 flights yesterday as the British Airline Pilots Association embarked on a two-day strike in a dispute over pay and conditions.

A BA spokeswoman said: “British Airways sincerely regrets that flights to and from Bermuda today and tomorrow are cancelled due to the strike action caused by the pilots’ union, Balpa. “We understand the frustration and disruption Balpa’s strike action has caused our customers. After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this. We remain ready and willing to return to talks with Balpa.”

Balpa has claimed cost cutting and “dumbing down” of the BA brand had eroded confidence in the airline.

The union gave notice of the two-day strike last month, as well as a third day on September 27.

Balpa estimated the series of strikes could cost the airline about $150 million.

The spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately, with no detail from Balpa on which pilots would strike, we had no way of predicting how many would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly, so we had no option but to cancel nearly 100 per cent of our flights all over the world.”

She added that British Airways had offered all affected customers refunds or the option to rebook to another travel date.