By Max Kingsley-Jones in London
Eurocontrol gets to grips with operational impact of stringent security imposed at airports throughout the UK
Air traffic management teams across Europe undertook a co-ordinated effort last week to minimise the disruption caused to operations by the stringent security regulations applied to passengers travelling from UK airports after a terrorist plot to smuggle explosives on to airliners was foiled.
The UK Department for Transport implemented the additional measures early on 10 August for all flights at UK airports, requiring that all cabin luggage be processed as hold baggage with the exception of certain small items, such as travel documents, wallets, keys and essential medicines.
With typically 400,000 people travelling by air in the UK each day in August - 200,000 of them using Heathrow - it was immediately evident that there would be a huge impact on aircraft movements, and measures were rapidly implemented to cater for the disruption. Terminals were rapidly bursting at the seams as passengers queued to check in and clear security.
Eurocontrol was advised by the London Air Traffic Control Centre at 05:00 about the likely problems at UK airports and specifically Heathrow, says Brian Flynn, assistant head of Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) operations division.
"At 07:30, at the request of UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS), we implemented blanket restrictions on all aircraft that were on the ground bound for Heathrow, preventing them from departing," he adds.
To mitigate against the backlog of flights that quickly built up due to the disruption, many airlines cancelled flights. As part of the air traffic management process, Eurocontrol activated its crisis management cell to ensure that it had the resources to cope with the increased workload. The CFMU participated in regular teleconferences every 2h throughout the day involving NATS, the UK en-route centre at Swanwick and UK airports and major airlines that were affected. "These discussions enabled us to vary the air flow restrictions as required," says Flynn.
As the day wore on the pressure at Heathrow began to diminish and gradually the restrictions were lifted on inbound flights - initially for Terminals 2 and 3, but arrivals remained at a sharply reduced rate for much of the day. By 21:15 all restrictions were removed. "The night-flight curfew was lifted temporarily and the backlog cleared by midnight," says Flynn.
Heathrow typically handles up to 45 arrivals an hour, but the highest hourly rate achieved on 10 August was 35, Flynn says. Hourly arrivals dropped as low 15 at around 08:00. "Heathrow's number of arrivals and departures were down by 48% on 10 August, from the normal 1,400 movements to around 800," he adds.
Disruption in the USA was less dramatic, with delays overshadowed by a massive storm in the country's Midwest region, which caused significant delays at Chicago O'Hare. Eastbound transatlantic traffic fell by 20%, but the gradual release of long-haul flights during the day kept the reduction of westbound services to 7%.
Source: Flight International
