Sun, Aug 20, 2006
...And Not A Moment Too Soon
Nine days after news of a foiled terrorist attempt
all-but-halted operations at several of the United Kingdom's
busiest airports, London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports resumed
their regular flight schedules this weekend... not a moment too
soon for harried travelers.
The BBC reports Heathrow saw nearly 1,200 flight operations
Saturday -- by far the most flights either arriving or departing
from the airport since details of the alleged terrorist plot were
made public August 10.
The news was also good at London's Gatwick Airport -- which saw
831 flights Saturday, carrying an estimated 67,000 passengers --
the first day new security measures hadn't resulted in major
scheduling problems, officials said.
A spokeswoman for Heathrow described the scene there as "a
typical busy Saturday afternoon in August. The flight schedule has
been running as normal. It has been busy but we are getting back to
normal."
That news will likely be seen as a victory by Britain's
Department for Transport -- which has insisted on holding to
tighter security restrictions, despite multitudes
of complaints from passengers... and a threatened lawsuit by
Ireland's Ryanair.
As Aero-News reported
Saturday, Ryanair said last week it would sue the
government for compensation unless security restrictions on
carry-on luggage were eased in the next seven days -- a move one
DfT spokesman said is highly unlikely.
"We have no intention of compromising security levels nor do we
anticipate changing our requirements in the next seven days," said
the spokesman.
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