Strikes and bookings surge threaten Christmas getaway at Heathrow

Queues for security checks spill out beyond the barriers as a line snakes across one of Heathrow’s departure halls. Despite the relatively quiet period on a weekday afternoon, passengers are still facing long waits — an ominous sign as a surge in bookings over Christmas and the new year coincides with strikes, threatening to disrupt travel at one of the busiest times of the year. The walkout by passport control officials this Friday for more than a week raises fears of more flight delays and long queues at Britain’s busiest airport, only months after this summer’s travel chaos. Executives from the airport, airlines and government have been meeting to ensure the disruption is limited, and are optimistic most passengers will not be hit. But they have warned that some disruption — most likely in the form of long queues at arrivals for people who cannot pass through electronic passport gates — is inevitable. “We are doing everything we can to protect full operating schedules on Border Force strike days,” Heathrow CE John Holland-Kaye said. He added that departing passengers and “the vast majority” of arrivals should be unaffected by the walkout by passport controllers, who are in dispute with the government rather than the airport. Heathrow has forecast just under 6mn passengers will pass through the airport in December, down from 6.6mn in December 2019, just before the pandemic hit.<br/>