BAA promises more staff to prevent disruptions

British airport operator BAA is putting additional resources in place to prevent flight cancellations this weekend amid heightened…

British airport operator BAA is putting additional resources in place to prevent flight cancellations this weekend amid heightened security measures following a suspected bomb plot.

"We intend to run a full schedule this weekend and we are resourcing up to make sure we do," said a spokesman for BAA, which is owned by Spain's Ferrovial.

BAA - which owns London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports - declined to say how much of the cost of implementing new security measures would be passed on to airlines.

Under UK regulations, BAA can pass on three-quarters of the costs of implementing government security directives over a threshold of £23 million a year at the three airports.

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The threshold for Heathrow is £14 million a year.

BAA declined to say whether it would be passing on additional exceptional costs to airlines this year.

Some airlines said this week they were worried about flight cancellations at London airports during the busy bank holiday weekend. Baggage handling staff at London's Stansted airport are threatening to strike this weekend.

British Airways, Ryanair, Easyjet and other airlines were forced to cancel hundreds of flights after stepped-up security measures were introduced on August 10th.