British Airways has entered into talks with unions over 1,200 potential job cuts as the airline plans to integrate with regional airline bmi.

The integration between the two group approved by the European Commission is expected to be complete at the end of this month. Currently bmi is losing £3 million a week, the deal is expected to secure 1,500 jobs with BA at Heathrow.

The union unite commented, "BMI's future has been secured but we are very saddened at the scale of the job losses being proposed," the union said, adding that it would look to ensure that, where vacancies exist, BMI workers can be placed within roles at BA.