World airlines scramble to clear passenger backlog

An Indian paramilitary soldier (L) speaks with foreign travellers as he stands alert at the entrance to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi yesterday. The US embassy has warned that the Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai could be targeted by al-Qaeda militants ahead of next week's Independence Day celebration. Indian authorities immediately raised the alert in the capital and the financial hub, which had already been under heightened security for the August 15 celebration. PHOTO: AFP

Passengers faced tougher restrictions on hand luggage and authorities were trying to clear a backlog of thousands of air travellers who were stranded when flights were cancelled on Thursday.

The new guidelines were causing delays on flights to the United States, with travellers across the globe forced to empty their carry-on bags and pack the contents into luggage for checking into the hold.

The restrictions were introduced hastily after it emerged that the alleged plot involved carrying liquid explosives in hand luggage on board flights from London's Heathrow airport to at least three US cities.

European airports said flight schedules to Britain were slowly returning to normal, but services from Heathrow were still experiencing delays.

British Airways said it expected to operate the vast majority of flights, although it cancelled at least 96 flights on Friday.

That was a substantial reduction on the airline's 364 short-haul flights and two long-haul services out of Heathrow, which were grounded on Thursday after the plot was uncovered.

Passengers at airports in Asia and the United States also faced delays after the introduction of the new hand luggage rules, which ban liquids, including shampoos, and deodorants as well as electronic goods from being brought on to planes.

The US Department of Homeland Security posted notices at Hong Kong airport saying passengers could not carry "liquids or gels of any size at the screening checkpoint or in the cabin of the aircraft".

Travellers forced to re-pack their bags at Hong Kong said they understood the need for the increased security.

Michael Rollings, a 42-year-old businessman from Chicago, said: "They let me keep my Aspirin but I've just lost my deodorant and my toothpaste. It is a small price to pay for preventing terrorist acts.

"I'm happy to be travelling today. We can't let these punks affect our everyday lives."

In Pakistan, where at least seven suspects including two Britons were arrested in connection with the London plot, extra armed police were deployed at airports in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

"Passengers were not allowed to carry hand luggage in all the foreign flights," said a security official at Karachi's Jinnah International airport.

Authorities in the United States placed all flights arriving from Britain under a core-red threat warning, the highest alert issued since the system was created following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

European airlines said they were dealing with a logistical nightmare as people who were unable to fly on Thursday clamoured for seats on flights.

In Madrid, the Iberia airline switched its biggest aircraft, the Airbus 340-600, capable of carrying 400 passengers, onto routes between Spain and Britain in an attempt to clear the backlog.

A spokesman for Frankfurt airport in Germany, one of Europe's busiest, said traffic had returned to normal.