BRITAIN: Aer Lingus and Ryanair were forced to cancel some of their inbound and outbound London flights over the weekend under the instructions of the British Airport Authority (BAA).
Heathrow is cancelling three out of 10 flights for as long as new security measures are in place, amid strong criticism from airlines about its handling of the crisis.
BAA will run Heathrow at 70 per cent capacity for the foreseeable future to ease congestion caused by security checks. About 375 flights a day in and out of Heathrow will be cancelled, with British Airways the hardest hit.
Two Aer Lingus flights between Dublin and Heathrow were cancelled on Saturday and yesterday but all passengers were later facilitated on Aer Lingus carriers that allowed for greater capacity. Two flights scheduled for today will also be cancelled, with passengers facilitated on other flights.
A spokesman for Ryanair said that 35 flights at the weekend were cancelled from Stansted airport, with four flights to Knock, Dublin, Derry and Shannon affected on Saturday. A further four flights from Stansted to Cork, Derry, Dublin and Shannon were cancelled yesterday.
Airlines said low staffing levels were leading to long queues at security checks. The system for checking hold baggage had also buckled under the volume caused by banning hand luggage in aircraft cabins, said one airline.
Dublin airport, however, has generally been operating as normal, with airlines experiencing few delays to Britain, said the Dublin Airport Authority.
A spokeswoman for the authority advised passengers to arrive 90 minutes in advance of their scheduled flight, adding that security checks were operating as normal. "Our security procedures are constantly being revised and assessed . . . but we are confident our security levels are at the appropriate level and are in line with international standards."
Willie Walsh, the British Airways chief executive, said BAA was unable to deal with the increased security, which includes individual searches of passengers. Ryanair yesterday described the British government measures as "heavy-handed" and urged that they be revised.
It said it supported "all sensible and effective security measures" but they should be targeted towards flights at risk or groups that posed a threat. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the British government's insistence on "heavy-handed" security measures was allowing terrorists to achieve many of their objectives.
- Áine Kerr/Guardian