"British air travel grinding to a halt over anti-terror security"

Saturday, August 12, 2006

British air travel grinding to a halt over anti-terror security
The Associated Press


LONDON - Airlines warned the British government Saturday that the country's
air travel is grinding to a halt because of tough new anti-terror security
requirements.

British Airways and Ryanair cancelled scores of flights from Britain to
Europe and the United States and blamed airport operator BAA for not
investing enough in security systems and baggage screening in the aftermath
of new terrorism threats.

Budget carrier Ryanair appealed to the British government to use police and
army reservists to speed up searches at overloaded airport security
checkpoints.

Heathrow Airport, the major hub for British Airways, cancelled one-third of
flights due out Saturday afternoon and night, blaming strict new security
regulations. Passengers were delayed so long that many missed their flights.

Ryanair, which operates most of its London services through Stansted
Airport, northeast of London, said it had complied with BAA orders to cancel
more than 60 flights of its Stansted flights this weekend, about 20 per cent
of the total, but said this overloaded security situation must be fixed by
Monday.

"Ryanair and other major U.K. airlines cannot keep cancelling flights and
disrupting the travel plans of tens of thousands of British passengers and
visitors solely because the BAA cannot cope with the new body-search
requirements," said Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair.

"If the British government is serious about defeating terrorism and not
allowing the terrorists to disrupt normal, everyday British life, then it
must provide the additional security staffing - either police or army
reserve personnel - immediately to prevent London's main airports from
grinding to a halt over the coming days," Mr. O'Leary said.

BAA PLC ordered the cancellations because its systems for screening
passengers and checked-in baggage for security threats could not cope with
the extra scrutiny required of passengers and their luggage in the wake of
Thursday's thwarted threat to bomb up to 10 U.S.-bound aircraft.

"Whilst the need for this action is extremely regrettable, it is the only
way that services at Heathrow can continue to return to normal operations,"
BAA, which owns both Heathrow and Stansted, said in a statement.

British Airways said it cancelled a quarter of its regional flights from
Heathrow, including flights to Europe, Britain and the United States, and
accused the airport owner of failing to cope with the problems posed by
strict new security regulations.

"We are ready and able to operate a full schedule at London Heathrow. We
have sufficient flying crew, ground staff and aircraft in place," said
Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive. 

"However BAA is unable to provide a robust security search process and
baggage operation at London Heathrow, and as a result we are being forced to
cancel flights and operate some others from Heathrow without all the
passengers onboard."

Rainy, gusty weather added to the frustration of passengers who formed long
lines waiting to be admitted to Heathrow's check-in area.

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