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Delays, but no travel chaos following US aırliner attack
At London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest air hub, small lines built up at departure gates, with flights to the US running about an hour behind schedule. Most passengers, traveling for the holidays, took things in stride.
“It’s Christmas as well, so you’d expect some delays,” said Mary Lecarpentier, 45, who was flying from London to New York for New Year’s celebrations. “I’ve only just joined this line and it’s fine. I’m nearly there.”
British Airways was telling customers flying to the US to carry only one item of hand luggage and to expect any gifts they were carrying to be unwrapped at security. Virgin Atlantic posted a similar announcement on its Web site. Both airlines said delays had been minimal.
Officials have given scarce details about the restrictions introduced over the weekend, saying they do not want terrorists to know about potential security measures after a man aboard a Northwest Airlines flight Friday from Nigeria through Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, tried unsuccessfully to ignite an explosive as the plane prepared to land.
Baggage checked repeatedly
Measures introduced at airports in Asia led to only minor delays. At Incheon airport, South Korea’s main gateway, passengers and baggage were checked repeatedly in the customs, immigration and quarantine areas at the request of US authorities. Many airports introduced a secondary level of security, after the main security gates, for travelers going to the US.
At Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, the additional measures meant some passengers were made to wait more than three hours to board. Before one Continental Airlines flight leaving Cancun, Mexico, for Newark, New Jersey, even babies were being frisked.
Canada on Monday banned most carry-on luggage for US-bound passengers. Passengers can carry on only medical devices, small purses, cameras, laptop computers, canes, walkers, diaper bags, musical instruments and bags containing “life-sustaining items.”
Transport Canada said it is trying to alleviate backlogs at security checkpoints, after passengers complained of chaos and long lines at Pearson over the weekend and Monday morning.
Police are now helping with security at four of Canada’s biggest airports after Transport Canada requested assistance.
Many travelers said that, once on board their flights, they were banned from opening overhead bins or visiting the toilets during the last hour of flight. Some passengers said they were asked to remove blankets from their knees, and one woman said a flight attendant had threatened to confiscate Christmas cards she had been writing in her lap.
In-cabin screens normally showing the plane’s location and flight path were switched off on an Air France flight on Saturday from San Francisco to Paris -- as a “security measure,” flight attendants said.
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