Stringent security, long waits and third of flights cancelled

LONDON - Heathrow airport moved closer to meltdown last night as a three-day show of unity between the Government, airports and airlines disintegrated.

BAA, which owns the UK's leading airports, ordered airlines to cancel one in three departures in the afternoon and evening local time. In response, British Airways' chief executive launched an unprecedented attack on the airport authorities.

Willie Walsh had spent the previous 60 hours watching his airline's passengers take the brunt of the new security imposed last Thursday night.

He accused BAA of being "unable to provide a robust security search process and baggage operation".

"We are being forced to cancel flights and operate some others from Heathrow without all the passengers on board."

Most industry insiders had predicted that the chaos seen at Britain's airports on Friday and Saturday would quickly ease.

Under the new security regime, only a minimal number of personal items are permitted; everything else must be checked in. As passengers and staff became accustomed to the new rules, it was expected that airlines' schedules would get back into shape.

Outside the London area, that is certainly the case: charter carriers and smaller airlines reported few problems yesterday. But Heathrow - where BA is by far the biggest carrier - was in disarray.

At the start of the day, BA announced that 10 transatlantic flights and 21 European departures from its main base had been cancelled. By 9am local time, 10 more flights had been cancelled - with dozens more called off after the airport authorities' demand that airlines cut their departures by one-third.

Cancelling the average short-haul round-trip represents a loss of around £20,000 ($59,700) in earnings; for transatlantic services the figure is up to £300,000. But what worries Walsh and his fellow airline bosses much more is the long-term effect of the crisis on passenger numbers.

Every passenger, regardless of destination, is subject to the cabin-baggage ban and an extra "pat-down" from security officials after passing through the metal detector. The compulsory body search has more than doubled the time taken to process each passenger. But US-bound travellers are faced with further checks at the departure gate: all footwear must be removed for inspection, and some items bought at terminal shops are confiscated.

Once the cabin door is closed, the passenger list is transmitted to the American authorities. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other agencies comb the manifest in the search for people on the "watch list". Only when all the officials are satisfied about passengers' credentials is permission for departure given. This process has been taking an average of three hours, with some flights delayed by up to seven hours.

"It's BA 223 all over again, only for every flight", said one senior source - referring to British Airways flight 223 from London to Washington DC. In January 2004, intelligence reports suggested that this service was the intended target of a terrorist attack, and it was repeatedly delayed for several hours - and eventually BA erased the flight number from the schedules.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic make most of their profits on Heathrow-US routes. With every day of disruption, more and more passengers will switch to other routes - or decide not to travel.

- INDEPENDENT