The many challenges that those running British ski holiday companies have had to face in recent years has grown again, with the recent news that Border Force staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union, plan to strike at six of the UK’s busiest airports, along with the seaport of Newhaven, over a 9-day period later this month that takes in two of the busiest weekends in the ski season – Christmas and New Year.
Unless a solution is found beforehand, the strike starts on Friday 23rd December and runs to New Year’s Eve 31 December at Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow (terminals 2-5) and Manchester airports.
As they’ve now had time to take the strike news in and plan accordingly, the advice from affected airports is that they are working to make disruption minimal. It mainly affects those returning home, rather than on the way out and in many cases passengers will be able to use automatic ‘e-gates’ to enter the UK. In addition the MOD have confirmed that military personnel were being trained to do the border force job on strike days.
“Our latest intel’ suggests any delays should be related to retuning customs checks, but the team are ready to help SNO guests and advising arriving at the airport early as we all did last winter. In the meantime we’re seeing lots more last minute bookings to non-striking airports like Stansted, so best advice is to book quickly if you want a late deal,” said CEO of SNO Richard Sinclair.
The official government advice to travellers heading through potentially strike-affected airports is,
“Travellers who are planning to enter the UK during the proposed strike period may face longer wait times at border control. Travellers should check the latest travel advice with operators before travelling. Please be patient and respect officers who are working to keep the UK border safe and secure for all travellers during strike action. We encourage all passengers eligible to use eGates to do so.”
Many tour operator holidays have their change-over days on the Saturdays of 24th and 31st December this year. The only possible good news on New Year’s Eve is that the strike officially ends at 7am, so most returning passengers from Christmas week ski holidays will arrive after that.
The advice from holiday companies is for passengers to keep their eyes on the prize as they face this latest battle after Brexit and covid.
Laura Hazell, Sales & Marketing director at Ski Beat in Gatwick and Manchester commented,
“Ski Beat’s departures to our chalets in the French Alps are scheduled to depart as normal, on 24th and 31st December and guests should arrive at the airports and check-in in good time for their flights,” said Laura, adding, “We are in regular contact with Manchester airport staff and they are well aware of any potential disruptions and will be working to ensure these are avoided, or minimised. Flying has certainly become a lot more challenging in the thirty plus years since we started taking guests to the French Alps. We are in also in contact with our guests, we are confident that they will be patient, and urge them to keep in mind that a warm welcome and a cosy, homely chalet is waiting for them, and that we will get them there!”
Simon McIntyre, General Manager of ski holiday travel agency Iglu Ski stressed that it was all hands on deck across the British ski business and that deals could still be booked through strike-hit airports, or those that aren’t, if skiers still want to get away over the festive period.
“In light of potential strikes at selected airports in the UK over Christmas and New Year, we are closely watching all developments in readiness to assist all Iglu Ski guests. As an industry we expect to work together to mitigate any impacts. For those still looking to book and travel, Iglu Ski has availability for alternative travel,” he said.
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