“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”: lyrics that seemingly don’t apply if you’re trying to travel anywhere at all this Christmas. Here I do my best to answer our readers’ most burning questions on getting around during the strike-ridden festive period.
UK Border Force strikes
Q: Will departures from Heathrow on 23 December be affected by the passport strike?
Bradlee M
A: The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced industrial action by UK Border Force staff from 23 December until the end of the year, with the exception of 27 December. Walk-outs will take place at six airports. These include the three busiest in Britain: Heathrow and Gatwick, serving London, plus Manchester. Also affected will be Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports.
The government, airports and airlines are working on contingency arrangements, which will see the army brought in to check passports. However, they will be no substitute for the highly professional and experienced UK Border Force staff.
Initially on the first day, 23 December, only arriving passengers will be affected: checks could take significantly longer. As you know, passports are not checked when leaving the UK, and so in theory there is no impediment to your outbound journey. But Heathrow is a busy airport with constrained space and little slack in the system at the best of times. It is possible that long queues could build up, leading to passengers being held on planes rather than disembarking. Those aircraft generally turn around to depart in as little as an hour. If the incoming passengers are still on board, the planes are not going anywhere.
Were this to happen, crowds would build up in the departures area and the airport would soon run out of gates for arriving flights – possibly triggering cancellations and diversions.
A Heathrow spokesperson tells me: “Our priority is to ensure passengers get through the border safely and as quickly as possible. The Home Office advises that immigration and customs checks may take longer during peak times on strike days, and Heathrow will support Border Force to minimise these impacts with the aim of processing passengers through the border as efficiently as possible.”
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