UK airports experiencing great delays but no cancellations after foiled attack
Robert JonesTighter security regulations called for by the United States government yesterday rapidly evolved into mayhem for major UK airports but in particular Heathrow.
Aviation officials instructed all commercial passenger carriers to impose the new series of last-minute inspections for all US-bound travellers almost immediately after the foiled attack and subsequent arrest of a former University College London student of Nigerian origin.
Twenty-three-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was arrested on Christmas day after he had attempted to detonate a small explosive device which he had concealed in separate ways on his person. He had used the planes washrooms to assemble the device and had returned to his seat where neighbouring passengers as well as cabin staff stopped him from carrying out his suicide mission.
The plane had left Amsterdam and was nearing Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Northwest Flight 253 was reported to be carrying 289 passengers on board.
The follow the new American air travel guidelines, every passenger flying on a airliner bound for a US airport must be now be willing to go through a “pat-down” body search and they will be subjected to one last had luggage check before boarding the plane at the gates. Travellers are only allowed one piece of luggage inside the cabin.
As of now, the majority of US-bound flights departing form London’s two largest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, have experienced delays of three hours with the occasional extreme delays of four or five hours.
A representative for British Airways (BA) said the situation proved to be a chaleenging one, adding the airline had not cancelled any flights.
The United States aviation authorities have also demanded that airlines flying into their airspace turn-off their in-flight mapping systems which show the plane’s position.
This particular requirements has forced some commercial carriers to suspend their entire entertainment system.
/images/rssicon.jpg "Subscribe to RSS feed")
Subscribe for free and recieve the latest Self-Catering-Breaks news and stories
Filed under Travel News, UK News