UK. (Europe) High-impact strike at Heathrow, coinciding with Easter

The Unite union representing security staff at London Heathrow Airport’s British Airways Terminal 5 has announced a 10-day strike from 31 March to 9 April. Around 1,400 employees at Heathrow are expected to take part in the strike. The strike will affect both Terminal 5 security staff and staff who check incoming cargo at the airport. Terminal 5 is used exclusively by British Airways and security guards who are responsible for checking all cargo that enters the airport.

The planned strike action is forcing British Airways to cancel more than 300 flights.
Unite has said the walkout will cause severe delays. Thousands of passengers will be affected and Heathrow has asked all airlines operating from the airport to stop selling seats for flights scheduled to operate during the strike period.

British Airways will cancel around 32 flights per day – the equivalent of five per cent of its flights to and from Heathrow over the Easter weekend – due to the strike action.
On strike days, passengers will only be allowed to travel through security with two items of hand luggage (handbags and laptop bags count as a piece of carry-on baggage). Travellers are urged to be ready for security with liquids and electronics already out of their hand luggage.

Heathrow’s VIP suite will be closed to departing passengers on strike days.

Anyone travelling between 31 March and 9 April is encouraged to arrive at the airport for their flight no earlier than two hours before departure time for short haul, and three hours for long haul.
by checking their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport, arriving at Heathrow no earlier than two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights, and by being ready for security with their compliant liquids and electronics out of their hand luggage.”

Rail workers represented by the RMT at 14 major companies will walk out on the following dates: Thursday 30 March and Saturday 1 April.
The following rail operators will be affected by the strikes:

Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, CrossCountry, c2c, East Midlands, Gatwick Express: «severe disruption» expected on RMT strike days, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Great Western, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, South Western, Thameslink, TransPennine Express and West Midlands.