...And Not A Moment Too Soon

Nine days after news of a foiled terrorist attempt all-but-halted operations at several of the United Kingdom's busiest airports, London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports resumed their regular flight schedules this weekend... not a moment too soon for harried travelers.

The BBC reports Heathrow saw nearly 1,200 flight operations Saturday -- by far the most flights either arriving or departing from the airport since details of the alleged terrorist plot were made public August 10.

The news was also good at London's Gatwick Airport -- which saw 831 flights Saturday, carrying an estimated 67,000 passengers -- the first day new security measures hadn't resulted in major scheduling problems, officials said.

A spokeswoman for Heathrow described the scene there as "a typical busy Saturday afternoon in August. The flight schedule has been running as normal. It has been busy but we are getting back to normal."

That news will likely be seen as a victory by Britain's Department for Transport -- which has insisted on holding to tighter security restrictions, despite multitudes of complaints from passengers... and a threatened lawsuit by Ireland's Ryanair.

As Aero-News reported Saturday, Ryanair said last week it would sue the government for compensation unless security restrictions on carry-on luggage were eased in the next seven days -- a move one DfT spokesman said is highly unlikely.

"We have no intention of compromising security levels nor do we anticipate changing our requirements in the next seven days," said the spokesman.

FMI: www.baa.com