British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have stopped selling tickets for inbound flights as strikes cause travel chaos over Christmas.
The two airlines halted sales at the request of Heathrow, which has capped arrivals at 80pc of pre-pandemic levels.
Airlines had hoped that the fallout from strikes by Border Force staff on Dec 23-26 and Dec 28-31 December could be limited after the army was called in to perform checks instead.
Separately, Eurostar said it would not operate any services on Boxing Day despite industrial action by security staff employed by Mitie being called off earlier this week.
The Channel Tunnel train operator said there would be no services because of strikes by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) workers union that are affecting all of the UK rail network.
Airport bosses have spent much of this week scrambling to ascertain the fallout from industrial action by Border Force staff.
The impact will mainly be on arrivals to the UK, with sources saying that airports are hoping to keep queues for passengers without biometric passports to less than two hours.
One of the major limiting factors is understood to be the small size of arrival halls, which means longer queues could quickly back up all the way to the gate and force the last-minute cancellation of flights or diversion to other airports.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: “We continue to work closely with UK government and airport partners at London Heathrow and Manchester to support contingency planning and minimise the impact of Border Force strikes on our customers’ journeys.
“Our priority is getting our customers to where they need to be this festive season, ensuring they’re aware of the strikes in advance and prepared for longer waits at border control. We intend to operate our schedule as planned, with additional flexibility to allow customers to change their flight dates if they wish to avoid arriving on strike days.”
Bertrand Gosselin, Eurostar operations director said: “We know how important it is for our customers to be able to travel at this time of year.
“We have done everything we can to get access to the UK high-speed line on Boxing Day – as we have done on every other RMT strike day this year – and we have made it clear to them the impact this will have for those who have booked their travel.
“We share our customers’ frustration and disappointment and will do everything we can to offer additional trains when the line is open in order to give more flexibility to passengers.”
A spokesman for British Airways said: “In view of the Border Force strikes planned over the Christmas period, we’re continuing to work closely with the UK Government, Border Force and airport authorities to ensure that we play our part in ensuring our customers are able to travel as planned at this important time of year.
“We’re offering anyone booked to travel on an international flight into London Heathrow or Gatwick Airport on strike dates the option to change their flight dates.”
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Read More: BA and Virgin halt ticket sales to Heathrow on strike days