EU Tourists to UK to Be Alert Due to Strikes Currently Causing Inevitable Flight Delays, Cancellations & Disruptions

The United Kingdom is dealing with strikes warned by unions of different sectors, starting from workers at passport offices, rail workers, health sector, while another 3,000 engineers, firefighters and security guards at UK’s biggest airport are also expected to join the strike.

According to Wayne King, the Unite regional coordinating officer, the strikes are expected to cause serious disruptions at Heathrow airport these days, with cancellations, disruptions as well as flight delays being inevitable, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In addition to the UK airport being affected by strikes and potentially causing disruptions, the passport offices in the country aren’t also working, as officers are walking out to protest over their pay and work conditions. This puts at risk over one million passport applications for renewal being stuck in the process, thus, millions of Britons are left to spend their holidays domestically.

Travellers are highly recommended to purchase travel insurance, which helps them to get a partial or full refund of their money in case of any inconvenience occurs.

However, summer vacations maybe can wait but Easter holidays are approaching and many EU residents that have planned to either visit the UK or visit their loved ones, might have to change their plans as the situation remains uncertain.

It further worsens as rail workers have also joined the strike for better work conditions and higher salaries, also impacting those that were seeking an option to visit the UK without having to be caught up in airport havoc. The new offer includes a salary increase of 14.4 per cent for the lowest paid and 9.2 per cent for the highest paid staff. In addition, there is an extra 1.1 per cent increase in basic earnings and increased backpay. 

“We will continue our campaign for a negotiated settlement on all aspects of the railway dispute,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said.

The next train strikes are scheduled on Thursday, March 30 and Saturday, April 1, and 40,000 workers in the Network Rail and train operators are expected to walk out during their work schedule.

According to the Telegraph, the most affected train companies, which include 14 of those, are as follows:

• Chiltern Railways
• Cross Country Trains
• Greater Anglia,
• LNER,
• East Midlands Railway,
• c2c,
• Great Western Railway,
• Northern Trains,
• South Eastern
• South Western Railway
• Transpennine Express,
• Avanti West Coast,
• West Midlands Trains
• GTR (including Gatwick Express)

Travel Insurance Guides