Air travel in most parts of the country will come to a screeching halt from midnight Tuesday. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees? union is set to launch its indefinite non-cooperation movement after the civil aviation ministry refused to give in to its demand to keep existing airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad open even after the new airports start operations.

The Delhi government had invoked the Essential Services Maintainance Act to cover all employees working at Indira Gandhi International Airport on February 26 after AAI employees had proposed a strike then. ?ESMA is still valid,? said an official with the ministry.

The strike is likely to least affect Delhi and Mumbai airports, as they are operated by private consortiums, DIAL and MIAL, respectively.

?Departments of housekeeping, maintenance and engineering, loaders and fire-fighters, among others, will be affected. But we have in place contingency plans to minimise disruptions,? said Andrew Harrison, COO, DIAL. ?We still don?t know whether the strike will be non-confrontational or disruptive,? he added.

Delhi and Mumbai airports handle around 750 aircraft movements a day and the strike is not expected to affect them as much as at the other airports across the country, ministry sources said.

AAI controls more than 120 airports in the country. The Airport Authority Employees? Joint Forum (AAEJF) had announced that it would launch an indefinite non-cooperation movement from midnight on Tuesday following the failure of their talks with the government over their demands.

The government is also contemplating invoking a 1984 law that empowers officers of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to arrest anyone sabotaging fire services, power or water supply, or who endanger safety and security of the airport.

Meanwhile, Indian Air Force has moved 479 personnel to 21 airports?including those in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore?to deal with the situation.

Several meetings have been held between the ministry and the unions, though no agreement has been reached.