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Border Force strikes could lead to airport closures
An article in The Times says that Border Force officials are still unsure exactly how much impact the eight days of strike action will have. The industrial action starts tomorrow, 23 December, but there are still many uncertainties about the impact until it actually begins.
Managers are unsure how many Border Force staff will turn up for work tomorrow as not all may be members of the union, and some may decide to work anyway. It is also unknown how many passengers will need extra attention, such as having the wrong paperwork etc, and how many will be able to use the e-gates, which requires far less human intervention.
All three branches of the military and additional civil servants have been drafted in to help, but with less training, it is not known how long the delays will be. It could be that airlines keep passengers on the plane. My advice is to make sure you use the toilet before you get to the immigration hall as you could be stuck there for a while. They will often give out water bottles, but I would be prepared with some water and something to keep yourself occupied just in case.
Steve Dann, the CEO of Border Force, said that they thought it would be able to keep “most if not all ports open” but could not say for certain that it would not result in airport closures under their worst-case contingency plans. BA and Virgin both withdrew any further tickets for the peak strike period from sale. I think it is highly unlikely that there will be closures, but there could be inbound delays if the airport asks air traffic control to regulate the inbound flow if they run out of stands due to passengers being kept on board.
Data by the aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that between 23-26 and 28-31 December, the airports affected by the Border Force strikes are scheduled to see a total of 8,910 arrivals – equating to over 1.7 million seats.
Tomorrow, Friday 23 December, will be the busiest day for arriving flights at Birmingham, Glasgow and Gatwick, while Friday 30 December will be the busiest at Manchester. Heathrow and Cardiff will see an equal number of arrivals on 23 and 30 December.
Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said:
“It’s the uncertainty that is worrying passengers, as they have no idea how the strikes will impact their arrival experience. Many are likely to face longer queues and delays during this festive period, and some could find themselves stuck on arriving aircraft before being allowed into the terminals. Let’s hope that border officials can process all passengers smoothly and without worry.”
Croatia
From 1 January 2023 two major changes affecting travellers will occur in Croatia. Firstly they will become part of the Schengen zone in Europe which allows for passport-free and borderless travel between member countries.
There will be a transition period of three months for airports to adjust their entry procedures. Then after 26 March 2023 Schengen originating flights arriving in Croatia will no longer be required to have passport or border control.
Croatia also becomes part of the Eurozone from 1 January meaning that you will no longer need to get separate Croatian kuna currency to use while you are there. There will be a two-week period initially where both the Croatian kuna (HRK) and the euro (EUR) will be accepted as forms of payment.
If you have some kuna lurking in a drawer somewhere, you can exchange them in Croatian banks for 6 months after 1 January 2023.
Business class to US from £1189
You may have forgotten about La Compagnie over Covid, but I was pretty impressed when I flew them. The downside is that they don’t fly from the UK, but they do fly from Paris, Nice and Milan.
La Compagnie is an all-business class service, and with small, new A321LR aircraft it almost feels like a private jet. The only downside is that they fly from Paris Orly, which is not served by many airlines from the UK. However, there is a bus service between the airports or you could have a night in Paris as I did. You can read my review of La Compagnie here.
The airline has a New Year offer which is pretty good. From Paris to New York costs £1189 (€1350) return for departures January to March 2023. The price is slightly more from Milan Malpensa at €1500 return, although it is easier for connections as you can fly into Malpensa from the UK easily.
You can find the French website here.
3 comments
EasyJet flys BRS to Paris Orly no?
Yes, easyJet does fly from BRS to ORY and CDG. BA offers flights from LGW to ORY, although these are a codeshare operated by Vueling.
Thanks for the update. Last time I searched there was nothing so they have obviously brought some back.
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