BRITISH Airways is to cancel dozens of flights to Manchester Airport from Heathrow Airport over the next few months under moves to improve its operational performance.

It is part of a review which sees short-haul and long-haul destinations affected, including flights to New York, Brussels, and Glasgow.

BA said 966 flights would be cancelled over the next three months - an average of 12 a day - out of a total of 41,000.

A spokesman said it was part of a plan for the airline to have a "robust" programme and to build some slack into the flight programme.

Union leaders claimed the airline was still short of check-in staff at Heathrow, a problem which led to flight cancellations and delays for travellers in the summer.

BA added it was recruiting new staff into areas such as check-in.