Passengers could be held on planes for long periods to avoid over crowding at airports during transport strikes.
Last week a Ryanair pilot told The Mirror that full planes would likely be stuck on the tarmac on days when industrial action clogged up the security and passport processes in the airport.
They said: "I expect the airport to either instruct or the situation to dictate that the passengers stay on the aircraft, because the terminal will be full."
In fact, they added that the budget airline has told staff not to wait for delayed passengers.
They added: "When these strikes take place, the strikes are going to cause even further delays in the airport, and that will compound the problem.
"Passengers will be delayed and be late to the gate. Ryanair is saying 'gates shut 15 minutes to go'. Most of the pilots I've spoken to will happily wait the extra few minutes if there's been a delay."
Now transport officials have started talks on how to avoid such travel misery for passengers, it has been reported.
One plan which has been discussed involves holding passengers on planes to ease the rush in airports during busy periods.
A source involved in discussions told The Times : "Delays of two hours at the border are being routinely discussed in meetings.
"If everything backs up, or anything (such as e-gates) fails, then airports will have to instruct that passengers are held on planes to prevent overcrowding.”
After two Christmas periods in which coronavirus restrictions limited the number of people moving in and out of the country, this year signals a return to pre-pandemic travel.
More than 10,000 flights are scheduled to land across the affected dates, which equates to two million passengers.
This influx comes as several unions with transport workers go on strike.
Most significantly for air travel is the Border Force industrial action by members of the PCS union.
The industrial action will take place on December 23, 24, 25 and 26, as well as 28, 29, 30 and 31 at Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester airports, as well as Newhaven port.
The Civil Aviation Authority has warned passengers that the walkouts could lead to long queues at the airports, as well as cancelled and delayed flights.
In a bid to ease the stress at travel hubs, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have stopped selling tickets for inbound flights at Heathrow on strike days.
