The United Kingdom faces its most disruptive Christmas travel season since the pandemic as roughly 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union who staff UK Border Force booths begin an eight-day walk-out on 23 December. The industrial action, triggered by a dispute over pay, pensions and job security, will hit Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports as well as the Port of Newhaven. Heathrow alone expects 579 arriving flights on the first strike day, with more than 10,000 passengers scheduled to land before 07:00. Government contingency plans include drafting 1,200 military personnel and 1,000 civil servants, yet Border Force’s own modelling concedes that a “contingency workforce will not be able to operate with the same efficiency as our permanent workforce.”
Airlines and airports are scrambling to mitigate the impact. Heathrow has asked carriers to cap inbound loads and several long-haul airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have closed new ticket sales for the core strike dates. Airports warn that failure to spread the arriving passenger load could lead to planes being held at remote stands, cascading into departure delays and possible on-the-day cancellations—particularly problematic for business travellers on tight connections.
![Border Force Christmas strike poised to snarl arrivals at all major UK airports]()
While e-Gates will remain open, they do not cover all arrivals (for example, children under 12 and many non-EU passport holders). Travellers should therefore expect peak-time immigration queues of 60-90 minutes, with risk highest for late-morning North-American banks and early-evening Middle-East/Asia arrivals. The Business Travel Association has urged corporates to add at least four-hour buffers between scheduled arrival and onward rail or flight departures, or to re-route via EU hubs where possible.
For anyone forced to reroute via third-country hubs at short notice, VisaHQ can fast-track the necessary transit or entry visas. Its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers quick online applications, live document reviews and courier options, helping travellers secure paperwork in time and avoid additional border headaches during the strike period.
Beyond the immediate holiday chaos, the episode underlines structural vulnerabilities in UK border resourcing. PCS says average real-terms pay has fallen 14 % since 2010, fuelling attrition that leaves the border “one sickness absence away from collapse” even outside strike periods. The Home Office counters that its latest 2025 settlement already funds 2,400 additional Border Force officers and that expectations of “inflation-busting” rises are unrealistic. With PCS balloting for further walk-outs in February’s half-term week, corporates should plan for rolling disruption into 2026.
Airlines and airports are scrambling to mitigate the impact. Heathrow has asked carriers to cap inbound loads and several long-haul airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have closed new ticket sales for the core strike dates. Airports warn that failure to spread the arriving passenger load could lead to planes being held at remote stands, cascading into departure delays and possible on-the-day cancellations—particularly problematic for business travellers on tight connections.
While e-Gates will remain open, they do not cover all arrivals (for example, children under 12 and many non-EU passport holders). Travellers should therefore expect peak-time immigration queues of 60-90 minutes, with risk highest for late-morning North-American banks and early-evening Middle-East/Asia arrivals. The Business Travel Association has urged corporates to add at least four-hour buffers between scheduled arrival and onward rail or flight departures, or to re-route via EU hubs where possible.
For anyone forced to reroute via third-country hubs at short notice, VisaHQ can fast-track the necessary transit or entry visas. Its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers quick online applications, live document reviews and courier options, helping travellers secure paperwork in time and avoid additional border headaches during the strike period.
Beyond the immediate holiday chaos, the episode underlines structural vulnerabilities in UK border resourcing. PCS says average real-terms pay has fallen 14 % since 2010, fuelling attrition that leaves the border “one sickness absence away from collapse” even outside strike periods. The Home Office counters that its latest 2025 settlement already funds 2,400 additional Border Force officers and that expectations of “inflation-busting” rises are unrealistic. With PCS balloting for further walk-outs in February’s half-term week, corporates should plan for rolling disruption into 2026.
