“Our Armed Forces make extraordinary sacrifices,” the Prime Minister said at RAF Lossiemouth on 4 December 2025, as the government moved to cover travel so personnel can get home for Christmas. A Ministry of Defence statement confirmed the offer covers a return journey, with rail or road included.

For Northern bases - from Catterick Garrison to RAF Leeming, RAF Boulmer and RAF Fylingdales - the change will be felt most by young service members posted far from home. Around 30,000 junior personnel in years two to five will be eligible for a funded return trip, and 5,000 separated parents will receive travel credit.

Ministers say the support targets those most likely to be separated from family by postings and training. While many already receive help with travel, roughly 35,000 personnel currently miss out; the government says it will close that gap this festive season.

The announcement was made during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to RAF Lossiemouth to thank crews ahead of the holidays. He presented the step as part of a renewed contract with those who serve, alongside action on pay, housing and the Armed Forces Covenant.

Defence Secretary John Healey underlined the message aboard HMS Prince of Wales, which returned to Portsmouth at the weekend after an eight‑month global Carrier Strike Group deployment. “Helping them get home to their families for Christmas is the least we can do,” he said.

Support will be available over Christmas or in the months that follow, so personnel on duty through the holidays can still claim later. The government says both road and rail travel are in scope.

For families across the North, it is often the rail ticket that decides whether a Christmas visit is possible, particularly for those sent hundreds of miles from home early in their careers. This won’t fix every strain of service life, but it takes a real cost out of the equation.

Ministers also point to what they call the biggest military pay rise in twenty years, a new strategy to repair and rebuild military housing, and action on the Covenant as proof of focus on forces families. The difference, as ever, will be judged in quarters and on pay slips over winter.

For now, the offer is straightforward: one funded trip home for junior personnel and extra support for separated parents, with a wider window so duty rosters don’t rule anyone out. That will land well in Catterick, Leeming, Boulmer and beyond.