Ryanair has called for the British army to assist in airport security as the airline announced it had to cancel eight flights this morning out of Stansted airport because of a lack of security staff there.
In a statement Ryanair apologised to passengers for the delays and called on the British government to intervene by "bringing in the army or the police to support the hard pressed BAA (British Airport Authority) front line staff while the current level of security searching is in place".
The Irish airline claimed that BAA staffing levels were only at "30 per cent".
British Airways and Ryanair have criticised BAA for being unprepared to deal with the terror alert.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh told the Daily Mirrorthat his company may sue the airports operator for compensation.
He said: "Since 9/11, everyone in the industry has known there might be times when extra security measures needed to be put in place. Yet when the moment struck, BAA had no plan ready to keep Heathrow functioning properly. The queues for security have wound all round the terminals like a bad dream at Disneyland."
Air travellers are expected to endure less cancellations at Heathrow and Gatwick airports after the lifting of hand luggage restrictions. The relaxation of the stringent security checks came into force at both airports on this morning - a day later than most others around Britain.
Passengers can carry small items of luggage on board, but all liquids remain banned, except prescription medicines and baby milk. The previous outright ban on hand luggage was introduced after police and MI5 foiled an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic passenger jets.
The chaos in Britain's aviation industry began to ease yesterday after the official terrorist threat level was lowered from "critical" to "severe".
Additional reporting PA