British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said Monday he was absolutely determined in its dispute with cabin crew and dismissed union suggestions that he had neglected the crisis to travel abroad.

What we are doing is absolutely right. We are looking to secure the long-term viability of BA, Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of global airlines group IATA in Berlin.

I am here on business ... We have people available to meet and are ready to talk.

British Airways cabin crew started their latest five-day strike Saturday in a long-running dispute which has so far cost the airline more than 120 million pounds ($173 million).

The strikes stem from BA's decision last November to cut cabin crew pay and alter staffing levels on its flights.

Shares in BA, which have fallen 11 percent in the last three months, were 1.4 percent down at 197.9 pence by 1045 GMT, valuing the company at around 2.3 billion pounds.

Walsh and Unite, which represents BA's cabin staff, blame each other for a breakdown in communication.

Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, said on his Twitter page that Walsh's absence meant no meetings were possible, with Walsh out of the country until Tuesday.

I have made it clear that I am available anytime day or night to meet with BA and Willie Walsh to attempt to resolve this dispute, Simpson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, one of Unite's joint leaders, Tony Woodley, was criticized in the British press Monday for flying off on holiday to Cyprus late last week as union members continue to strike.

The issue of travel allowances for cabin crew has become a serious sticking point in the conflict, which comes at a difficult time for BA.

We have made it absolutely clear that if BA re-instates our members' travel concessions we would suspend the strike action, said Simpson.

A BA spokesman said conciliation service ACAS was trying to arrange discussions between the two parties but that no peace talks were planned.

Talks over the past six months have failed to yield a resolution, with the walkouts having caused BA to ground flights on 19 occasions so far.

The latest strike took place less than a week before the start of the soccer World Cup in South Africa and followed a five-day stoppage which ended Thursday. There was a four-day walkout last week and seven days of stoppages in March.

A BA spokesman said conciliation service ACAS was trying to arrange discussions between the two parties but that no peace talks were planned.

(Additional reporting by Kylie Maclellan; Editing by James Regan and Jon Loades-Carter)

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