London Heathrow Airport Faces Disruption Due to Border Agents Strike

A strike by border agents at London Heathrow Airport later this month could cause serious disruption to travel into the U.K.’s busiest airport.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will strike from August 31 through September 3. Then, the group will undertake industrial action over the following two weeks, which includes a work-to-rule and overtime ban until September 22.  

PCS says that it is undertaking the action because of a “lack of flexibility and changes to the shifts.”

While the U.K. government says it is planning to minimize any disruption, the move could impact travelers during what is typically the busiest seasonal period of Heathrow, in the middle of the busiest summer ever for the airport—almost 8 million passengers traveled through Heathrow in July, making it the busiest airport in Europe in the first half of 2024.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said in a statement “we know our strike action is likely to cause serious disruption to travelers using Heathrow at the end of the summer, but the strike can be avoided if the employer listens to the concerns of our members.”