By Ilaria Grasso Macola
Border Force has called on airlines to make changes to their schedules to guarantee a smoother flow of passengers amid the upcoming strikes.
“We will expect operators to make any adaptations which could lead to some changes in schedules just to ensure a smooth flow of operations,” said chief operating officer Steve Dann.
The government has warned passengers arriving in Britain in the next 10 days to be ready for delays as members of the union PCS will walk out from Friday to 26 as well as 28 and 31 December over salaries.
Disruption will impact several UK airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick.
The Home Office said it has taken extensive steps to minimise disruption for passengers, including bringing in the army.
“Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our citizens safe and borders secure,” Dann added.
“We are working together with partners across the travel industry to ensure we can continue to meet critical demand and support the flow of passengers and goods through our border.”
This seems to confirm multiple reports from earlier this week, which said passengers could be forced to wait aboard planes to avoid overcrowding in arrival halls as queues might last longer than two hours.
Figures from aviation analytics firm Cirium expect over two million airline seats to be impacted by the disruption – 1.5 million only at the two London airports.
According to forecasts, 7.2 million passengers are expected to travel through London airports.
Three million passengers are expected to pass through Heathrow’s gates whilst Stansted is forecasting 1.2 million travellers.
To mitigate the strikes’ impact on travellers, British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic have reportedly stopped selling tickets on strike dates, while Heathrow and Gatwick remain in contact with ministers and Border Force.
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