Heathrow Downplays Strike Impact On UK Border Forces

London Heathrow's operator has offered reassurance that most passengers travelling through the airport this month will be "unaffected" by planned strike action by UK Border Force staff.

Passport-control staff represented by the PCS union will strike for eight days at Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports this month. The industrial action will take place on 23-26 and 28-31 December.

Heathrow says "the vast majority of travellers will be unaffected" by the strikes.

"We are doing everything we can to protect a full flight schedule on strike days, so departing passengers should expect to travel as normal," says the airport. "Arriving passengers with UK, EU, US, Canadian and some other passports will be able to use e-gates as usual and their journeys should be largely unaffected on strike days. Border Force has contingency measures to ensure other arriving passengers are cleared safely and as quickly as possible."

However, Heathrow suggests that concerned passengers who are unable to use the e-gates contact their airlines to ask about alternative travel dates.

A total of 5.6 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in November, down from 5.9 million in October, says the airport. The London hub handled 55 million passengers between January and November, representing nearly 70% of 2019 levels.