Planned Holiday Strikes at U.K. Airports: What You Need To Know

Updated: February 19, 2023, 11:51am CST

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Table of Contents

Heathrow Baggage Handler Strike
Border Force Agent Walk Out To Affect U.K. Arrivals
Final Thoughts

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The cost of living crisis has sparked a spate of strike action across various sectors in the United Kingdom which has compounded the usual chaos of December holiday travel.

The NHS (National Health Service), postal system, rail network, and airports are among the main areas that will be affected by workers walking out in a row over pay and other workplace benefits.

Airports will be impacted over the festive period as baggage handlers and Border Force (the law enforcement agents who carry out border controls in the U.K.) go on strike over a prolonged period of time.

Let’s take a look at how baggage handler and Border Force strikes could affect your journey when traveling to or from the U.K. this holiday period.

Heathrow Baggage Handler Strike

A 72-hour baggage handler strike at Heathrow Airports terminals 2, 3, and 4 will commence on December 16, 2022. Note that if you’re flying with British Airways into Terminal 5, you won’t be affected.

The Menzies Aviation staff who Heathrow employs to carry out the necessary baggage duties at the affected terminals will be walking out over unfair pay.

The airlines that will likely be hit hardest by the strike are: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Egyptair, Finnair, Lufthansa, Qantas, Swiss, and TAP Air Portugal.

Heathrow advised impacted airport stakeholders to carry out emergency contingency planning to reduce the impact on passengers.

If you are traveling to London Heathrow (LHR) from December 16 through December 19, we’d advise packing hand luggage only (if possible) to completely remove the risk of running into baggage issues.

Border Force Agent Walk Out To Affect U.K. Arrivals

If you have a flight bound for Birmingham (BHX), Cardiff (CWL), Gatwick (LGW), Glasgow (GLA), Heathrow (LHR), or Manchester (MAN), or you’re transiting from outside the U.K. through one of the aforementioned airports, then you could be affected.

The dates for the planned strikes are December 23 through December 26 (until around 7 a.m.) and then from December 28 through December 31, 2022 (until around 7 a.m.).

With those in charge of checking passports on entry to the U.K. not coming to work on those dates, the U.K. government will draft in military personal, civil servants, and government volunteers in an effort to reduce the impact on travelers.

Passengers traveling with passports issued in the U.K., Australia, Canada, E.U. Nations, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, and the U.S. which are also eGate eligible should be less affected than those who are required to speak with a custom officer.

TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321LRneo business class Heathrow eGates — The eGates in some U.K. airports enable passengers holding eligible passports entrance into the country without having to spend to a law enforcement agent. Image Credit: Daniel Ross

Despite warnings of “significant delays and disruption” from Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the union who looks after the striking Border Force workers, the U.K.’s busiest airport, Heathrow, is planning on operations running as usual during the strike period.

“We are doing everything we can to protect full operating schedules,” said John Holland-Kaye, CEO at Heathrow Airport.

Though with the possibility of huge queues forming at the U.K. border, the potential for missing onward connections looms.

Hot Tip: It’s times like these when making sure you have the best travel insurance is imperative before setting off on your trip.

For those whose final destination is the U.K., the worst-case scenario will be a longer-than-usual wait to enter the country through the affected airports.

Despite warnings to cut flight schedules by around 30%, airlines seem to plan on continuing with their regular schedules over the affected periods as no announcements of cancellations have been made.

If you are planning on transiting through one of the affect airports on a strike day, it could be worth checking to see if you can find an alternative itinerary.

Final Thoughts

Holiday travel chaos in one way or another is set to hit the U.K. over the next couple of weeks. The conflicting messages around how severe the impact will be for passengers traveling to and from the U.K. remains a bit unknown. What is certain, though, is that there’s never been a better time to make sure you have top-notch travel insurance to prepare for a potential interruption on your travel plans.