Heathrow chief warns of gridlock in UK Border Agency staff walkout

Airlines to 'halve capacity' on flights into the UK on 30 November pension strike at request of BAA

Heathrow airport has asked airlines to halve the capacity on international flights coming in to the UK after warning of gridlock due to strikes by UK Border Agency staff on 30 November.

In a letter to carriers using Britain's largest airport, Heathrow's chief operating officer, Normand Boivin, warned of "significant disruption and delays to arriving passengers" of up to 12 hours. With queues backing up in immigration halls, planes will not be able to disembark passengers and a mass cancellation of later flights will ensue, said Boivin.

"The delays at immigration are likely to be so long that passengers could not be safely accommodated within the terminals and would need to be held on arriving aircraft. This in turn would quickly create gridlock at the airport with no available aircraft parking stands, mass cancellations of departing aircraft and diversions outside the UK for arriving aircraft."

Indicating it is aware of the behind-the-scenes chaos at the UK Border Agency, triggered by the departure of the Border Force chief, Brodie Clark, Heathrow owner BAA said it had "reluctantly" concluded that UKBA will not be able to process the 60,000 passengers that pass through Heathrow immigration each day. Boivin said BAA had reached a deal with major airlines to halve passenger numbers on Wednesday, prompting a mass rebooking programme.

"We will plan for a normal flight schedule but we are requesting all carriers to reduce load factors on each international flight arriving at Heathrow on 30 November to 50% of normal levels.

"By following this protocol, airlines will reduce the risk of being diverted to an airport outside the UK and reduce the risk of having an ou! tbound f light cancelled," said Boivin.

It is understood major carriers at Heathrow such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and bmi have yet to see a deluge of rebookings, but they are anticipating a flurry of requests once news spreads of impending chaos in arrivals halls.

BA said the airline has begun offering alternative dates to passengers due to travel on 30 November.


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