Frankfurt (Germany): Frankfurt International and other airports in Europe said they could accommodate European flights blocked from landing at London's Heathrow Airport, after it was closed Thursday amid a heightened terror alert.
Heathrow airport, the busiest in Europe, was closed to most European flights on Thursday morning, after British authorities uncovered a terrorist plot to blow up several aircraft in flight between the United States and Britain using explosives smuggled in hand luggage.
Most European carriers canceled flights Thursday to Heathrow because of massive delays and airport congestion created after authorities enforced strict new regulations banning most hand baggage.
Heathrow's block on incoming traffic applied to flights of three hours or less, affecting most incoming traffic from Europe, an airport spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with airport policy.
Security was tightened at airports throughout Britain, and additional measures were put in place for all flights. British Airways said all short-haul flights to and from Heathrow were canceled until at least 1400GMT.
The British Department of Transport was advising all passengers not to travel to Heathrow for flights Thursday.
Laptop computers, mobile phones, iPods and remote controls were among the items banned from being carried on board aircraft. Prescription medicines were permitted; as were eyeglasses but not their cases, the department said. Contact lenses could be taken aboard in their cases, but bottles of solution were banned.
Passengers were also advised that no electrical or battery powered items, including laptops and mobile phones, could be carried into the cabin.
The U.S. government raised its threat assessment to the highest level for commercial flights from Britain to the United States.
Frankfurt's airport, Europe's second-busiest, already has more than 1,400 planes landing and taking off daily, but would be able to help take flights diverted from Heathrow, spokesman Wolfgang Schwalm said. So far, however, none had landed in Frankfurt yet, he said.
''We don't have any information in this direction at the moment,'' Schwalm said, adding that security measures had been stepped up, but that no ban on hand baggage was put into place.
Other airports, including Schiphol in Amsterdam and Charles De Gaulle in Paris, also said they would be able to accommodate Heathrow-bound planes, should it be needed.
Airports across Europe reported some cancelations, while others stopped all flights.
Air France canceled all Thursday morning flights to Heathrow airport after British authorities announced they thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up several aircraft.
An Air France spokeswoman said the cancellations were prompted because Heathrow was ''saturated,'' and not because of any security concerns.
Officials at Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports and at the French Interior Ministry would not comment on any additional security measures taken after the British announcement.
All airlines stopped flights Thursday from Brussels to Heathrow.
''For now, all flights to London Heathrow have been canceled,'' a Brussels international Airport official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with standing policy. He did not elaborate.
German carrier Lufthansa said its morning and early afternoon flights were canceled because of ''logistical and not security'' reasons. No other Lufthansa flights were affected.
Spain's Iberia said it had canceled four flights to Heathrow, and Italian carrier Alitalia stopped six flights through London _ four linking the city with Rome and two with Milan. Alitalia said it would decide later Thursday whether to continue the cancelations.
SAS, the flag carrier for Sweden, Norway and Denmark, canceled its flights to Heathrow from Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.
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