May Bank Holiday 2024: Travel chaos looms for weekend as Heathrow Airport workers to strike alongside train disruptions

The early May bank holiday is fast approaching with many planning a getaway or a trip abroad to enjoy the Monday off. This year the early May Bank Holiday will take place from May 3 to 6.

However, there is the prospect of strikes at the UK’s busiest airport and delays on the roads and trains. Fears are mounting that there could be widespread travel disruption due to looming strikes and the number of people who will be setting off for their getaways.

Listed below are the strikes and disruptions that you need to be aware of that could disrupt your travel plans.

Airports 

Workers who refuel aircraft at Heathrow Airport are set to walk out for 72 hours from 4 May. Members of the Unite union say their employer AFS, a joint venture between oil and gas companies, was planning to cut pension and sickness benefits. Heathrow Airport says it is working on a contingency plan with AFS to manage any potential disruption, saying it has "robust" measures planned, insisting that passengers can book flights from Heathrow with confidence.

More than 300 Border Force staff are also preparing to walk out between 29 April and 2 May. After this initial round of industrial action, affecting Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5, organisers are planning a "work-to-rule" strike from 3-18 May, meaning workers will work more slowly and do the bare minimum required by their contracts.

Trains

Planned engineering works will be carried out on several train lines, which you can check here on the National Rail website. According to KentLive, some Southeastern and Southern rail services in Kent will be disrupted during a May bank holiday due to planned engineering works. 

The disruption is set to affect passengers from 4 to 6 May and there will be some timetable changes. Passengers are being urged to plan ahead in Kent as in two weeks' time work will be done to the railway including routine maintenance and upgrades.

There are no planned strikes for bank holiday Monday (6 May) but train drivers with the Aslef union will strike on 7 May at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.

On 8 May there will be strikes at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Aslef members at LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express will then strike on 9 May. A planned strike by London Underground drivers scheduled for Saturday 4 May was called off after an Aslef spokesperson said "key issues" had been "successfully resolved". An overtime ban will also take place between 6 and 11 May.

Roads

Motorists are advised to expect the roads to be busy over the bank holiday weekend as people try to make the most of it.  Last year the RAC estimated 17.2 million leisure trips would be made during the early May Bank holiday. The AA advises people to plan their routes well ahead of time, checking for roadworks and traffic jam hotspots, which can be found here on the breakdown service's website.