major UK security alert

no outbound hand luggage except docs, glasses, medicines, nappies
etc, long delays, not sure LHR actually checking in at the
moment. In case you had not heard!

(18 arrested re terrorist attempt)
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Funny how many people think we're dumb, or cannot read, or don't get
TV/newspapers in our area

"The Reid" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
no outbound hand luggage except docs, glasses, medicines, nappies
etc, long delays, not sure LHR actually checking in at the
moment. In case you had not heard!

(18 arrested re terrorist attempt)
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on
Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this
site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"

Funny how many people think we're dumb, or cannot read, or don't get
TV/newspapers in our area


And it's funny how many people think that all we do is sit and wtch TV all
day or listen to the radio. And nothing in the newspapers as this story
broke well after todays papers had been printed.

What's happening at airports for flights flying into the UK? Anybody heard
any news about passenger delays at non-UK airports?

"The Reid" wrote in message
...

(18 arrested re terrorist attempt)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4778575.stm

Ian

Oral-B wrote:

Funny how many people think we're dumb, or cannot read, or don't get
TV/newspapers in our area


And it's funny how many people think that all we do is sit and wtch TV all
day or listen to the radio. And nothing in the newspapers as this story
broke well after todays papers had been printed.

What's happening at airports for flights flying into the UK?

The news is reporting that flights to LHR will be cancelled if not
already airborne, and even then....

Putting it mildly, you don't want to be flying out of or to London and
many other UK airports today.

Anybody heard
any news about passenger delays at non-UK airports?

I suppose the best thing you can do if you have specific travel plans is
to check flights from your local airport. A lot of them have good
websites with arrivals/departures information.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

"Oral-B" wrote in message
...
Funny how many people think we're dumb, or cannot read, or don't get
TV/newspapers in our area


And it's funny how many people think that all we do is sit and wtch TV all
day or listen to the radio. And nothing in the newspapers as this story
broke well after todays papers had been printed.

What's happening at airports for flights flying into the UK? Anybody
heard
any news about passenger delays at non-UK airports?


Just announced - Heathrow now closed to all incoming flights (unless in the
air!).

Surreyman

no wigs toupees ,hearing aids ,shoes ,water or duty frees or hamburgers
allowed,
definately no laptops or phones ,no books or papers allowed either

At-a-glance: UK airports
Security at all UK airports has been tightened after an alleged plot to
blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US.

Broadly, passengers are not being allowed to take on any hand luggage
except essential items in see-through carrier bags, and are advised to
expect severe delays.

Passengers are advised to contact their airline with any queries.

British Airways said customers not wishing to travel on Thursday could
rebook to travel up to 1 December subject to availability, or get a
refund.

Below is the situation at some of the airports so far. We have included
links to airport websites, although readers may experience difficulties
accessing some of them because of high demand:

HEATHROW

The airport has been closed to all incoming flights which are not
already in the air.

Spokesperson Jo Bird said: "Heathrow is the same as every other UK
airport this morning which is asking passengers not to take any hand
luggage into the cabin of an aircraft. There are obviously some
exceptions to this - people's wallets, prescribed medicine, but all of
those will need to go into a plastic bag. There is a specific list."

Rod Plinston, of Reading, Berkshire, told the BBC News website: "Severe
delays on arrival at LHR at 0600 this morning - BA desk staff as
helpful as possible in very difficult circumstances as many hundreds of
expectant travellers continued to pile into Terminal 1.

"Lots of patient queuing, but no people passing to airside at 06:30 -
expect severe delays...."

London Heathrow Airport

BELFAST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Passengers are being advised to check in at least two hours earlier. No
hand luggage is allowed to be taken on, with only the barest essentials
in transparent plastic bags.

Belfast International Airport security director Robin Long said delays
would be inevitable.

"The queues of people going through central search are massive - they
are actually queuing into the retail area and on to the moving
walkway," he said.

"Unusually, we are searching absolutely everybody so that is having a
massive impact."

Belfast International Airport

BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

In a statement, Birmingham asked passengers to turn up for flights as
normal.

It said people should carry no hand luggage unless absolutely
essential, and to speed up check-in they should have travel documents
to hand, presenting them with passport open at right page and so on.

It said people should arrive at the airport with plenty of time to
spare and not expecting to book in at the 'last minute'.

Birmingham International Airport

CARDIFF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Security at all Wales' airports has been stepped up.

At Cardiff, managers said extra staff had been drafted in to implement
new security measures and to "minimise delays".

More than 40 flights are due from the airport on Thursday, two to the
USA.

It has advised people to allow plenty of extra time when checking in.

Cardiff International Airport

GATWICK

Richard Hawkins, of Scaynes Hill, told the BBC News website: "I have
just come back from Gatwick North Terminal having given up trying to
take the early morning flight to Amsterdam.

"The added security precautions are causing absolute chaos as everybody
is obliged to check in and all passengers are being hand searched. I am
sure that these extra precautions are necessary.

"At 0545 hrs this morning, the check-in area was so crowded that there
was a Health and Safety risk. BA staff were doing what they could but
there appeared to be nobody concerned about crowd control.

"For example the escalators up to departures were still running and
passengers had extreme difficulty leaving them , due to the crowds
awaiting check in. I would question whether BAA has a crisis management
plan or indeed the staff to implement it."

London Gatwick Airport

LUTON
Luton Airport released the following statement: "Due to a change in
passenger procedures across all UK airports the number of items allowed
as hand luggage has been severely limited.


Members of the public not travelling today will not be allowed within
the terminal building
Luton Airport
"Passengers are advised to check in as soon as possible upon arrival at
the airport. Passengers should be prepared to check in all hand luggage
including mobile phones and laptops. These will not be permitted in the
aircraft cabin.

"Members of the public not travelling today will not be allowed within
the terminal building."

Jerry Crick, from Barton le Clay, told the BBC News website: "My wife,
Julia and I went to Luton airport at 5.30am today so that she could get
a flight to Nice.

"The queues of people trying to check-in were already out to the
entrance doors, we use Luton airport a lot, the number of people
queuing was about three times more than usual...

"This will cause serious delays to everyone but this is essential to
ensure passenger safety. C'est la vie!"

Luton Airport

STANSTED

A spokesman for Stansted said: "Traffic is already building up on the
approach roads and there are already delays.

"We would ask people to travel only if they have to. And we would ask
people who come to the airport to be patient and remember why this is
being done."

Stansted Airport

London Police Foil Plan to Blow Up Jets in Flight (Update5)

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- London's anti-terrorist police said they foiled
a plot to blow up airliners traveling to the U.S. using explosives
smuggled in hand luggage, leading to heightened security at airports
across the country and canceled flights.

U.K. authorities arrested a number of people overnight, police said
today in an e-mailed statement, adding that flights between the U.K.
and U.S. would have been ``particularly'' targeted by the attackers.
The U.K. and the U.S. raised their terror alert levels. Sky News said
20 aircraft had been targeted and as many as 20 individuals were
arrested in London.

``We carried out a major counter-terrorism operation to disrupt what we
believe was a major threat to the U.K. and international partners,''
Home Secretary John Reid said in a televised briefing. Authorities
``are investigating an alleged plot to bring down a number of aircraft
through mid-air explosions causing considerable loss of life.''

The U.K. and U.S. today raised their threat levels, with Britain
putting it to ``critical,'' the highest category in a five-point scale,
indicating an attack is expected ``imminently,'' according to the Home
Office Web site. Airports were instructed not to permit hand baggage
aboard flights, the U.K. Department of Transport said.

The pound was little changed against the dollar at $1.9050 at 8:30 a.m.
in London, paring a drop of as much as 0.3 percent. The benchmark FTSE
100 stock index fell as much as 1.3 percent to 5783.60 points. U.K.
bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt falling 3
basis points to 4.65 percent.

U.S. Threat Level

A spokesman at the U.S. Department for Homeland Security said in a
telephone interview that the U.S. threat level had been raised. A
statement he said he would e-mail didn't immediately arrive. The
Associated Press said the threat level for commercial airliners was
raised to red, the highest in a five-step scale.

The plot comes almost five years after the September 11, 2001, attacks
in the U.S. when hijackers flew planes into New York's World Trade
Center and the Pentagon in Washington, killing almost 3,000 people. A
U.K. parliamentary committee said in May that an unspecified number of
terrorist attacks had been thwarted in Britain since then, including
three following last year's suicide bombings on London's public
transport system.

Four suicide bombers on July 7, 2005, killed themselves and 52 other
people on three London Underground subway trains and a bus in the
capital's deadliest terrorist attack.

Lockerbie Jetliner

An airplane was the target of Britain's deadliest terrorist attack,
when a Pan Am jetliner was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie
in December 1988, killing all 259 passengers and crew as well as 11
people on the ground. Libya later admitted responsibility for the
attack.

The Department of Transport said travel documents, pocket- sized
wallets, purses and items such as baby food, contact lenses and some
medications, are permitted on flights, while handbags, cell-phones,
laptops and media players must be checked in.

``We're advising customers to check in as normal: clearly under these
circumstances they would be wise to expect delays,'' Paul Marston, a
spokesman for British Airways Plc, the U.K.'s main carrier, said in a
telephone interview.

Today's arrests follow the return of an American Airlines Inc. flight
to Boston from London on Aug. 7 to Heathrow Airport after takeoff due
to an unspecified security issue.

Four passengers detained by the authorities were later released after
being questioned.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at ;
Nick Allen at .

Following up to

no wigs toupees ,hearing aids ,shoes ,water or duty frees or hamburgers
allowed,
definately no laptops or phones ,no books or papers allowed either

not too keen on putting my cameras in the hold, may buy a tough
bag.
--
Mike Reid
I will agree bendybuses are a good idea when they build bungalows on Mayfair
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"