Disruption starts easing at British airports

Liquid items no longer allowed on planes. Bottles of water, deodorant, shampoo and even toothpaste fill a trash container near the American Airlines ticket area at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. PHOTO: AFP

But the British Airports Authority (BAA) and airlines reported a much improved situation from the previous 48 hours, with only a handful of cancellations in and out of the country's major airports.

National carrier British Airways (BA) cancelled 10 out of its 75 scheduled long-haul flights out of London's main Heathrow Airport Saturday, all to the United States, a spokesman told AFP.

Thirty-one out of 202 planned short-haul internal or European flights into and out of Heathrow have also been scrapped, he added.

At London Gatwick, the country's second-busiest airport after Heathrow, only 10 BA domestic flights out of a total of 101 flights have been cancelled.

The picture contrasts sharply with Thursday when 652 in-bound and departing flights on all airlines at Heathrow were scrapped, including more than 400 BA services That figure was reduced to 96 on all operators Friday.

"We're operating as close to normal a service as we can," said a spokesman for BAA Heathrow.

"There are delays. We're advising passengers to arrive early and check with their airline before they leave and be mindful of the security restrictions."

Passengers are currently banned from taking anything into aircraft cabins, except essential items like travel documents, following allegations of a plot to use liquid explosives smuggled on board in hand luggage.