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Alleged terror plot brings chaos to U.K. airports

Lines grew long and tempers short at British airports Thursday, as the thwarting of an alleged plot to blow up aircraft brought travel to a grinding halt at the height of the summer tourist season.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Lines grew long and tempers short at British airports Thursday, as the thwarting of an alleged plot to blow up aircraft brought travel to a grinding halt at the height of the summer tourist season.

At London’s Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, hundreds of flights were canceled and passengers stood in lines stretching out the door or sat disconsolately amid heaps of luggage.

Those allowed to check in were banned from carrying hand baggage and stuffed their money and travel documents into clear plastic bags — the only items allowed aboard flights.

‘This is hell’
Kendra Webb, an 18-year-old student from San Francisco, cried as she spoke on the phone to relatives at home.

“This is hell,” she said. “I hate this airport. I just want a cigarette right now.”

Police said Thursday they had disrupted a plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft between Britain and the United States using explosives smuggled in hand luggage

The British Airports Authority, which runs several major airports, told passengers to expect long delays and stringent security measures for several days.

Passengers were told to check all baggage.

“I’ve just spent 20 minutes in the middle of an airport trying to repack my bags. I’ve had to sort out my money, my wallet and my possessions,” said New Yorker David Hailes, flying from Edinburgh airport. “At the moment I’m not happy, but I can see the point of it. We can’t let these people win.”

European air travel cut off
British Airways canceled all flights between Heathrow and points in Britain, Europe and Libya Thursday because of severe congestion caused by the tight new security measures.

Heathrow — which normally sees 1,250 departures and arrivals and 200,000 passengers a day — was closed to arriving European flights. The travel chaos rippled across Europe as many airlines, including Air France, Alitalia, Lufthansa, Iberia and Aer Lingus, canceled flights to Heathrow.

Heathrow said it hoped to resume normal service on Friday, but security restrictions would remain in force for the foreseeable future.

Some long-haul flights were leaving Thursday, but with severe delays.

“It’s scary,” said Fran Barkan, an American teacher trying to fly to New York. “The whole flight will be worrying. It’s not going to be a conformable flight — if we get on today.”

Many travelers, however, were philosophical about the disruption.

“If everybody is safe, that is all that matters,” said Tony Oddy, whose flight from London’s Stansted Airport to Manchester was canceled. “We will all get over this, it’s not the end of the world.”

Many flights out of Stansted — home to budget operators such as easyJet and Ryanair — were also canceled, and most of those that took off were delayed by several hours.

‘Absolute chaos’
There was a heavy police presence inside the crowded terminal and a police helicopter circled overhead.

Passengers stood in long lines for security checks, clutching plastic bags containing the few items they were allowed to take on board. Mothers with bottlefed babies were required to taste their infants’ formula in front of security staff before being allowed to take it on flights.

“It’s absolute chaos,” said Vanessa Lee, who traveled two hours from Spalding in eastern England to take a flight to Pisa, Italy, but found her flight canceled. “Ryanair’s computers keep crashing because they can’t keep track of all the changes.”

At Manchester Airport in northwest England — the country’s busiest outside London — flights to Heathrow were suspended, but 15 scheduled flights to the United States, carrying 3,000 passengers, managed to take off.

“I’m not worried at all; this seems to be the safest day to fly with all the security,” said Robert Ashton, 43, who was facing a three-hour delay on his flight to Turkey.

Staff at Edinburgh International Airport handed out glasses of water to waiting passengers and games to children to relieve the boredom.

“The British really know how to handle a situation like this,” said Richard Macpherson Barnes, 45, a geologist from Salt Lake City. “The staff have been nothing but polite and helpful.”