With just weeks to go before the holiday rush, ministers confirmed on 29 November that up to 1,200 military personnel and 1,000 civil servants will man UK passport desks during eight days of Border Force strikes from 23 to 31 December. The deployment aims to keep Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and four other airports running after PCS-union members voted for industrial action over pay and allowances.
The armed-forces contingency follows a smaller walkout by Border Force maritime staff earlier in November and comes on top of ambulance and rail strikes. Airlines have already paused ticket sales for certain inbound Heathrow flights on strike days, fearing long queues at immigration. The Cabinet Office is finalising a new “resilience framework” to coordinate private-sector, volunteer and military resources across critical infrastructure.
![Government drafts in troops to cover Christmas Border Force strikes]()
For global-mobility programmes, the main risk is arrival bottlenecks that could stretch door-to-door journey times by several hours, jeopardising tight project start dates and holiday-season relocations. Employers should advise travellers to carry printed evidence of visa status—even if held digitally—and to book flexible accommodation and onward rail tickets. Premium-service fast-track lanes may also be suspended if staffing runs thin.
Travel insurers warn that strike-related costs may not be fully covered unless policies include “industrial-action” clauses. Companies should check whether extended waiting time counts as a “trip delay” trigger for daily allowances.
Longer term, the episode underscores continued labour-relations turbulence at UK ports of entry, reinforcing the government’s push for digital borders that rely less on physical headcount. But until ETAs and e-Visas fully replace wet-ink passport stamps, human resources remain mission-critical—and vulnerable to strike action.
The armed-forces contingency follows a smaller walkout by Border Force maritime staff earlier in November and comes on top of ambulance and rail strikes. Airlines have already paused ticket sales for certain inbound Heathrow flights on strike days, fearing long queues at immigration. The Cabinet Office is finalising a new “resilience framework” to coordinate private-sector, volunteer and military resources across critical infrastructure.
For global-mobility programmes, the main risk is arrival bottlenecks that could stretch door-to-door journey times by several hours, jeopardising tight project start dates and holiday-season relocations. Employers should advise travellers to carry printed evidence of visa status—even if held digitally—and to book flexible accommodation and onward rail tickets. Premium-service fast-track lanes may also be suspended if staffing runs thin.
Travel insurers warn that strike-related costs may not be fully covered unless policies include “industrial-action” clauses. Companies should check whether extended waiting time counts as a “trip delay” trigger for daily allowances.
Longer term, the episode underscores continued labour-relations turbulence at UK ports of entry, reinforcing the government’s push for digital borders that rely less on physical headcount. But until ETAs and e-Visas fully replace wet-ink passport stamps, human resources remain mission-critical—and vulnerable to strike action.
