Heathrow promises hassle-free half term, despite strikes

No flights will be cancelled during walkout by security officers from Thursday to Saturday

Travellers queue at security at Heathrow Airport in London. AP

Heathrow has promised passengers a hassle-free journey over the half term break, which coincides with another series of strikes.

The west London airport said no flights will be cancelled during a walkout by security officers from Thursday to Saturday, when many families in England and Wales will fly abroad for the school holiday.

The world’s second busiest airport said that during previous strike periods, most passengers waited less than five minutes for security, and almost all waited less than 10 minutes.

Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said: “Passengers should not be concerned about strike action by Unite [the union] over the half term getaway.

“The 15 days of strike action over the Easter peak and coronation weekends have had no impact on the smooth running of the airport, and passengers have not noticed any difference from the normal great service they expect at Heathrow.”

Heathrow has offered staff a 10 per cent pay rise and a £1,150 lump sum with a guarantee of an inflation-linked increase in 2024.

Mr Holland-Kaye, who will step down later this year after nine years as the boss of Britain's biggest aviation hub, said staff want a vote on Heathrow’s pay offer, “but Unite won’t let them”.

Heathrow Airport chaos in summer 2022 – in pictures

“These strikes are completely unnecessary,” he said.

“We made a generous 10 per cent offer early on, to make sure colleagues got a substantial increase when they needed it most.

“Unite’s delays mean non-union colleagues as well as the majority of colleagues who are union members, who voted to accept our previous offer, are losing out.”

Unite previously said its members have been “crystal clear they are seeking a substantial permanent increase in pay”.

Earlier this month, Heathrow Airport warned that the return of passengers through its terminals may already be levelling off, rather than overtaking pre-pandemic numbers.

Demand for air travel surged after the UK’s travel rules were scrapped but it has flatlined compared with pre-virus levels in recent months.

About 6.4 million passengers travelled through the airport in April.

Heathrow said: “There are early indications that passenger growth may be levelling off, with recovery now stable at 93 per cent – 95 per cent of 2019 levels across each of the first four months of this year.”

In April, Heathrow announced it made a loss in the first quarter, blaming fees set by the regulator as it posted a 74 per cent annual increase in passenger traffic.

It recorded 16.9 million passengers in the first three months of the year, a substantial increase over last year’s pandemic-affected numbers.

Yet it posted a £139 million ($173 million) adjusted loss, saying fees had been set “too low”. It has launched an appeal against the passenger fees, which it had been ordered to lower for airlines using the UK airport.

Decades of flight: Heathrow through the years – in pictures