Border Force strike may see airports close this Christmas

Some airports may be forced to close during the upcoming industrial action being taken by UK Border Force staff.

As the UK’s Christmas of discontent continues, soldiers and civil servant volunteers “have been trained to conduct some checks at the border and will be drafted in in an attempt to minimise disruption”, said The Times. Passengers, however, are being warned to expect long delays.

A source had previously told the paper: “Delays of two hours at the border are being routinely discussed in meetings. If everything backs up, or anything fails, then airports will have to instruct that passengers are held on planes to prevent overcrowding.”

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Steve Dann, chief operating officer of Border Force, said it was the government’s aim to keep “most if not all ports open” but he could not rule out the possibility of closures.

Dann said officials “will not compromise on” the “number one priority”, which is to “keep our borders safe and secure”.

“We do have robust plans in place to minimise delays to passengers, but we’ve been very clear from the start that people should be prepared for disruption and take action to plan ahead,” he said. “We have a reasonable expectation that by using this contingency workforce, we will be able to deliver a service that keeps most if not all ports open.”

Thousands of staff are set to walk out on a number of dates this month in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The action will affect major airports across the country including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow, and the port of Newhaven.

Strikes are set to run between Friday 23 December and Boxing Day, and then again from 28 December until New Year’s Eve.

During those times “more than 10,000 flights are expected to land across the affected airports, carrying two million seats”, said The Telegraph. There are “particular concerns about how Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, will be affected by the strike”, the paper added.

Heathrow has “asked airlines to stop selling flights during the strike action”, reported The Sun, with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic “restricting inbound tickets on some of the days”.