Relief for air passengers as security rules eased

Relief for air passengers as security rules eased

ALASTAIR JAMIESON CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT TOUGH restrictions at Britain's airports were due to be eased today after the latest intelligence suggested a terror attack was no longer imminent. Passengers will now be able to carry one piece of hand baggage each, but liquids other than baby milk and prescriptions remain banned. However, people heading for destinations in the United States will continue to undergo a second security screening.

In a statement released early this morning, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it would work with airlines and airport operators "to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum". However, there were reports last night that a New York-bound British Airways flight from Heathrow was turned around part-way through the journey after a mobile phone was found onboard. None of the passengers claimed to have any knowledge of where it came from. Ministers had come under pressure yesterday to review the security restrictions at Britain's airports after another day of travel chaos in the wake of last week's bomb plot security alert. Dozens of flights between Scotland and London were cancelled again yesterday amid a row between airlines and airport operators over who is to blame for the continuing crisis. The shadow home secretary, David Davis, called for troops to be sent in to Britain's airports to help with security checks and ease delays. Meanwhile, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said the "heavy-handed" measures were bringing the country's airports to the point of collapse. The checks, introduced by the DfT in the early hours of last Thursday, include body-searching of all departing passengers and very tight restrictions on what can be carried through security screening areas. Although the measures were described by the Home Secretary, John Reid, as "time limited", it is thought unlikely they will ever be completely lifted. Mr O'Leary said: "The government, by insisting on these heavy-handed security measures, is allowing the extremists to achieve many of their objectives. It is vital that the government works with the airlines to prevent the collapse of London's airports. "We believe the body-search requirement can be revised from 100 per cent to the normal 25 per cent of passengers without diminishing airport security. These numbers still allow any suspect groups or routes or individuals to be body-searched. More importantly, they will allow the main UK airports and the UK air transport system to return to normal, which is the most important message we can send to these extremists." Willie Walsh, the British Airways chief executive, accused the airport operator, BAA, of being unable to deal with the increased security, and said Heathrow's baggage system could not cope with the increased volume of luggage or the lengthy queues in the airport security search areas. BAA's chief executive officer for Heathrow, Tony Douglas, added to pressure on the government, claiming the DfT measures were "not sustainable". "If this is maintained we are likely to continue to see extremely long queues and regrettably even more flights cancelled," he said. "Quite simply, I don't know how long it's likely to go on, but it's clearly a set of measures that are unprecedented and by virtue of what they've come in to enforce, they're not sustainable measures." BA yesterday cancelled all its flights between Scotland and Gatwick, one third of its services between Scotland and Heathrow and most its services between London and Europe. It also cancelled ten flights to the US. It said it could not "rule out the possibility that flights will continue to depart without all their passengers because of ongoing problems with BAA's security search process and baggage operation at Heathrow Airport." Mr Davis suggested Britain should follow the example of the US and draft in the security forces to help out. "In America, for example, troops are being used to help with the searches and help with the security oversight, which accelerates it somewhat. It may well be that the smart thing for the government to do now is to see whether or not they can divert some resources to helping out BAA." Virgin Atlantic, however, said it was "supportive of BAA because they are having to do a very difficult job in extreme circumstances". BMI is currently operating all its 44 daily flights between Heathrow and Scotland as normal, but admits it will have to re-examine key shuttle services if lucrative short-haul business travel is rendered impossible by long-term security rules. The 234 flights between Scotland and London each weekday are likely to be worst hit by any continuing disruption, as airlines reduce frequencies in order to steer their operations away from collapse. In particular, BA's 86 weekday flights between Heathrow, Gatwick and Scotland are vulnerable to more cancellations today, forcing passengers to consider trains instead. GNER yesterday laid on extra services. There has also been concern that guidelines are inconsistent. Despite tight rules on what can be carried through security checkpoints, the DfT has imposed no restrictions on what passengers can take on board - creating a bonanza for shops in secure "airside" areas selling food and drink. Related topic Terrorism in the UK http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=758

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Last updated: 14-Aug-06 02:02 BST