Full list of strikes affecting summer holidays including trains and airports

17 July 2023 , 12:54

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Strikes across the UK and European transport sectors could spell disruption this summer (Image: In Pictures via Getty Images)

Brits heading on holidays this summer could find themselves stuck in airports and rail stations waiting for long delayed planes and trains due to industrial action.

As inflation continues to squeeze workers' wages across the UK and broader European Continent, staff across the transport sector have decided to walk out.

Although the number of striking unions in the UK is limited, coupled with huge demand to travel post-Covid lockdowns, the potential for disruption is significant.

Below we've listed all the strikes in the UK and on the Continent that could impact you during the school summer holidays, including a day by day guide at the bottom.

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Striking teacher forced to take a second job to pay bills ahead of mass walkout

Rail travel is likely to be disrupted in the UK this summer (In Pictures via Getty Images)

Trains

More than a year after the first train strikes brought the UK's lines to a standstill, workers are still walking out in various disputes over pay and the future of the industry.

A fresh overtime ban has been announced by train drivers today, threatening disruption to services at the height of the summer holidays and potentially spelling misery for those heading on staycations by rail.

Members of Aslef at 15 train operating companies will refuse to work overtime from Monday July 31 to Saturday August 5 in the long-running dispute over pay.

Drivers launched a week-long overtime ban on Monday which the union warned will "seriously" affect services, amid complains from the union that train companies have not employed enough drivers, meaning they are dependent on rest day working.

The action will affect Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; Cross Country; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; Great Western Railway; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway main line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.

It will be the fourth week-long ban on overtime since May and comes as separate rail union RMT is staging three more strikes.

The RMT said that 20,000 rail workers - including station staff, train managers and catering workers - across the UK are to strike on Thursday July 20, Saturday July 22 and Saturday July 29.

UK airport strikes

Workers in two UK airports are walking out (Getty Images)

Workers at a number of airports across the UK are poised to strike this summer, meaning getting through the travel hubs with your bags could be particularly difficult on certain days.

Around 100 security officers and terminal technicians employed by Birmingham Airport will begin all-out continuous strike action from Tuesday 18 July, claiming they've been the victims of two years of post-pandemic pay cuts.

They say that they received a rise of 2.8% last year, when the real rate of inflation was running at 13.8%. The airport, which offered a 10.1% rise that was rejected by Unite workers, said the strikes were 'regrettable'.

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"We are asking customers to put as much hand luggage as possible into the aircraft hold to limit the volume of items subject to pre-flight security checks and so minimise delays," a Birmingham Airport spokesperson said.

The strikes are expected to cause issues for travellers flying with TUI, EasyJet, Wizz, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Emirates.

Just shy of 1,000 baggage handlers and check-in staff at Gatwick Airport are among those who will stage eight days of strikes from later in July in a dispute over pay. The workers will strike initially for four days beginning on Friday 28 July ending on Tuesday 1 August. Then a further four days from Friday 4 August until Tuesday 8 August.

The airlines affected include British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI, Westjet and Wizz Air.

Security staff at Heathrow were set to strike on almost every weekend of the summer, but the industrial action was called off after a pay deal was reached at the end of June.

On August 9 of airport workers announced they will walk out of their positions at Gatwick to coincide with the end of the school holidays.

Fresh strikes are set to affect Gatwick airport later this month, as workers take eight days of industrial action, including the August Bank Holiday weekend, in pay disputes.

The strikes will involve over 230 workers, who are members of Unite and employed at Red Handling, a ground handling company and Wilson James, which operates the passenger assistance contract at the airport. Both companies have failed to make offers that meet the workers’ expectations, the union claimed on Wednesday morning.

EasyJet cancellations

EasyJet has cancelled 1,700 strikes this summer (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Although not linked to strikes, tens of thousands of easyJet customers have had their holiday plans disrupted after the budget airline axed a huge number of flights this summer.

The airline has cancelled 1,700 summer flights in July, August and September, many of them from its main UK base Gatwick, impacting 180,000 passengers, it announced last week.

Rather than cancelling services at the last minute as has happened at points so far this summer, easyJet is pre-emptively moving flights around. While 95% of customers impacted by the changes have already been put on another flight, around 9,000 are currently without a replacement.

European airline, airport and rail strikes

Airport workers across Europe are walking out (AFP via Getty Images)

Ground handlers at a number of airports in Portugal are set to walk out on July 30 and 31 and August 5 and 6.

Industrial action limiting overtime work is also set to take place on July 19 for an indefinite period, as well as on public holidays from August 1.

If air traffic controllers across Europe go ahead with a threat to strike, as many as 12,600 daily flights across the Continent could be impacted, according to The Times.

Union Syndicale Bruxelles, a trade union representing staff at Eurocontrol - which manages European airspace - is threatening to take industrial action in a row over issues such as recruitment, management and rosters.

There are no specific dates for industrial action yet, but a six month period in which strikes could take place started last week.

Germany's EVG trade union, which represents railway and transport workers, has called a series of 'warning strikes' this year over pay, impacting Deutsche Bahn train services and other rail routes.

After pay talks collapsed in June the prospect of more strikes reared yet again, although dates have yet to be set.

Lufthansa pilots are currently considering a new pay offer from the flag carrier, with a rejection potentially leading to more walk-outs after a strike truce ended on June 30.

EasyJet cabin crew in Portugal will carry out their third strike in recent months from 21 to 25 July.