Airport passengers face severe delays
Oliver King and agencies
Thursday August 10, 2006
There were chaotic scenes at British airports today as passengers faced severe delays amid a major anti-terrorism security clampdown.
A wide range of extra security measures - including a ban on hand luggage and specific restrictions on fluids - were introduced overnight after the government said security services had disrupted a plot to blow up passenger aircraft over the Atlantic.
The measures were causing severe disruption to checking in, and there were warnings that some flights could be cancelled. Police increased their presence at airports across the UK.
Staff at Heathrow airport said incoming flights - with the exception of those already in the air - would not be allowed to land, warning passengers that flights scheduled for later today could be cancelled.
Similar security measures were being introduced in the US, and flights into other British airports from across Europe could also be delayed or cancelled.
The Department for Transport said that all cabin baggage would be processed as hold baggage and carried in the holds of aircraft departing UK airports with immediate effect.
Passengers were only being allowed to take a limited number of items on board by hand in a single, ideally transparent, plastic carrier bag. Items that could be taken on board in hand-carried bags included: · Pocket-sized wallets and purses, plus contents
· Travel documents essential for the journey
· Prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight, except in liquid form unless verified as authentic
· Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases
· Contact lens holders, without bottles of solution
· Baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle had to be tasted by the accompanying passenger) and sanitary items sufficient and essential for those taking an infant on a flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nappy disposal bags)
· Female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (for example, tampons, pads, towels and wipes)
· Tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs
· Keys (but no electrical key fobs)
Passengers were not allowed to carry anything in their pockets, and were being hand-searched. Footwear and all items being carried were being screened.
Pushchairs and walking aids were also being x-ray screened, and only airport-provided wheelchairs were allowed to pass through the screening point.
All passengers boarding flights to the US and all the items they were carrying - including those acquired after the central screening point - were being subjected to secondary searches at the boarding gate.
Any liquids discovered were being removed from passengers, but there were no changes to the usual hold baggage security measures. "Regrettably, significant delays at airports are inevitable," a Department of Transport statement said. "Passengers are being asked to allow themselves plenty of extra time and to ensure that, other than the few permitted items listed above, all their belongings are placed in their hold baggage and checked in.
"These additional security measures will make travel more difficult for passengers, particularly at such a busy time of the year. But they are necessary and will continue to keep flights from UK airports properly secure."
A Heathrow airport spokesman said check-in and hand search processes were severely affected across all four terminals, "and this will continue throughout the day".
"We would ask passengers not to come to the airport today unless absolutely necessary," the spokesman added.
"We would ask those passengers who must travel today to consider using public transport and be prepared for long delays as a result of these measures."
At Heathrow terminal one, queues snaked through the building and there was barely enough room for people to line up to check in. Some queues were so long that they were going out through the doors.
A spokesman for Stansted airport, in Essex, said: "Traffic is already building up on the approach roads, and there are already delays.
"We would ask people to travel only if they have to, and we would ask people who come to the airport to be patient and remember why this is being done."
British Airways said any of its passengers who failed to comply with the government's restrictions on luggage and other items would not be allowed on its planes.
"Customers are advised to check in as normal, but to expect delays at all UK airports," a spokesman said.
"British Airways regrets any inconvenience caused. Any customers not complying with this government instruction will not be accepted for travel by British Airways." He said passengers were advised that no electrical or battery powered items, including laptops, mobile phones, iPods, and remote controls, could be carried in the cabin and must be checked in as hold baggage.
</FONT>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism...usrc=rss&feed=1
ראשי
צ'אט
10-08-2006, 09:18
מצב כלאיים
