Strikes in relation to the aviation industry are never fun for those affected. They tend to have far-reaching impacts on the itineraries of travelers as well as cost airlines and other operators millions in compensation for the disruptions caused. And, of course, as employees want to make their non-presence known, they often choose particularly busy times of the year to go on strike. On Wednesday, Border Force staff in the UK announced a strike over the upcoming holiday period. This will affect six airports in the UK - including London Heathrow (LHR) and Gatwick (LGW).

From summer to Christmas chaos

The other airports included in the list provided by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are Birmingham (BHX), Glasgow (GLA), Cardiff (CWL), and Manchester (MAN). Altogether, between December 23 and 31, the airports have a total of 10,072 arrivals scheduled - equaling over two million seats, according to data from Cirium.

Heathrow is by far the busiest, welcoming over half the passengers with 1,040,420 seats over 4,724 arrivals. Gatwick comes in second with 475,483 seats and 2,476 arrivals, whereas Cardiff, at the bottom of the list, has 7,424 seats over 55 arrivals.

UK border staff at Gatwick
Photo: Getty Images

Lucky 27

Meanwhile, the industrial action will not stretch over the entire period. The dates affected by the strike are December 23 to Boxing Day, and December 28 to New Year's Eve. Meaning if you are lucky, you manage to pass through a non-strike window if you are flying in on December 27. Needless to say, it will still affect thousands of passengers, who will be in for lengthy queues at immigration.

Manchester Airport has stated it anticipates it will need to cancel some flights to manage the restricted capacity at border checks. There are yet to be any other official statements regarding potential cancelations. This article may be updated with further information.

Army staff may be called in - at the expense of their own holidays

According to The Guardian, the government has been training army personnel to check passports to help alleviate the impact of the strike. However, the PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, says he has written to the head of the armed forces asking them to refrain from covering for striking workers.

The announcement of the strike follows statements from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that he would seek to curb the right to industrial actions from what he deemed were "unreasonable" unions. This may come to entail NHS employees and other people working in "critical infrastructure" having the right to strike removed.

Do you have plans to fly or travel by train internationally to the UK over the holidays? How are you preparing to meet potential disruptions? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Source: The Guardian, Cirium