2024-04-29 19:33:27
“Bulgaria Air” too may be affected the delay will be especially in the landings
The UK’s biggest airport could be paralyzed by mass strikes days before two key celebrations – Orthodox Easter and England’s signature Bank Holiday, during which Britons enjoy a long weekend and travel en masse.
300 border control staff at Heathrow Airport went on a 4-day strike, from Monday to Friday, over working conditions. And in the coming weeks, nearly 500 more people from different departments will follow their example.
Schedule disruption is expected at Terminals 2, 3, 4, 5, with arrivals rather than departures experiencing delays. The affected airlines are high-tariff airlines, among them is Bulgaria Air.
The Public and Commercial Services Union said more than 300 of its members would take part in the strike action, which began at 5am on Monday and will continue until 7am on Friday. The protests are against the plans for
input new systems for control
working hours and organization of work duties.
According to the union, this reorganization will force about 250 people to leave their jobs at passport control. “While not everyone will be affected, the changes will affect people with disabilities or caring responsibilities,” it said, adding that the government should do everything possible to retain experienced staff.
However, the Home Office said the changes would bring Heathrow airport operations in line with those elsewhere. It was also expected that the new system would improve passenger service and structure work more efficiently.
Strike action is expected until May 13. The airport has also announced that from June 1, it will outsource passenger movement and security to external companies. With this, the company that maintains the largest British airport will save costs of 40 million pounds.
Against this background, Heathrow returned to profit for the first quarter and
noted the record ones 18.5 million passengers
since the beginning of the year. This is an increase of nearly 10% on the same period last year. This year, Heathrow has generated a profit of £189m – a turnaround from a previous loss of £60m for the same period last year.
On Monday, there were also traffic disruptions at London Stansted Airport due to a power outage. The situation caused chaos, with some passengers even missing their flights and others being warned to take more time to get through security.