Heathrow assures Border Force strikes won’t impact travellers as activity falls

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Around five million Britons are expected to travel during this festive period, according to recent data.
Around five million Britons are expected to travel during this festive period, according to recent data. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Heathrow has assured travellers that their journeys will be unaffected by Border Force strikes, as the number of people using the airport falls.

Last week, Border Force staff working at several UK airports agreed to strike over the Christmas period in a long-standing dispute over jobs and pay.

Members of the union PCS will walk out between 23 and 26 as well as 28 and 31 December at several UK airports, including the west London hub and Gatwick.

Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that more than 1.5 million passengers at Heathrow and Gatwick will be affected.

Chief executive John-Holland Kaye said the airport was doing everything it could “to protect a full flight schedule on strike days.”

“Border Force has contingency measures to ensure other arriving passengers are cleared safely and as quickly as possible,” he added.

“We are continuing to support them to strengthen these plans so that as few people are impacted as possible.”

Holland-Kaye’s words echoed those of aviation minister Baroness Vere, who last week said the government was in talks with third parties – including the army – to guarantee as smooth a run of operations as possible.

According to Heathrow, arriving travellers with UK, EU, US, Canadian and some other passports will be able to use e-gates to speed up their journeys.

The airport made the headlines last week after airlines protested against the decision to increase the price Heathrow can charge its airline customers per passenger from £30.19 to £31.57.

Virgin Atlantic’s boss Shai Weiss said the aviation regulator was “putting the interests of a monopolistic airport” ahead of customers, while IAG said it was disappointed.

Based on passenger numbers, the price cap has been at the centre of a war of words between the hub and carriers over the past year. 

Airlines have repeatedly accused Heathrow of downplaying its recovery to get a more favourable price. 

Nevertheless, interactive investor’s head of investment Victoria Scholar said the airport was still struggling to reach pre-Covid levels.

“The shift towards online business meetings and remote working has dampened demand for business travel even in the post-covid era,” she said.

“Plus the cost-of-living crisis means belts are tightening with less consumer spending available for holidays.”

The London airport reported that 5.6 million people travelled through its gates in November, down from 5.9 million a month earlier.