SEATTLE

Emil Macdonald, 35, from London, whose flight was delayed by almost four hours: “It was very obvious who was flying to Britain today because we were all carrying clear plastic bags. We were only allowed to carry a wallet with essentials and travel documents. There was a special area for the London passengers, and we were hand-searched and there were very obvious sniffer dogs and a big police presence. It was a real contrast to the internal US flights, which seemed to be carrying on as normal. No one was buying duty-free once we got through the gates because they simply had nowhere to put it.”

SAN FRANCISCO

John Phipps, vice-president of a software company, arrived carrying a transparent bag containing only his wallet: “We were one and a half hours sitting on the tarmac after we landed and then coming through baggage claim; it was ridiculous. We did go through extra security at the other end, but the problems really happened when we got to UK air space.”

BERLIN

Mary Poulter, 58, travelling from Berlin Tegel airport, said that she had experienced no such restrictions. “We were allowed to carry mobiles and laptops and everything usually allowed on the plane. Tegel is a small airport and it seems much more relaxed from when we went out from Heathrow last Friday. It’s a completely different world over there.”

TRAVEL TALES

DURBAN

Collette Akeroyd, 27, had her connecting flight cancelled after flying to London on Thursday: “We had to get the Eurostar to Paris instead, to fly on to Milan from there. I have been without my luggage for three days, as it got lost at Heathrow. The airport has told me that it is here but I still don’t know whether I can locate it in time for my flight tonight. The whole trip has been a nightmare coming through London.”

TEL AVIV

James Cohen, whose flight arrived on time, said that he experienced no delays or increased security: “We were allowed laptops, mobile phones, everything as usual. Security is pretty tight in Israel anyway at the moment, but even though I was bound for London there were no extra problems as far as I could tell.”

DENVER

BA flights arriving at Heathrow experienced several long delays due to problems transferring baggage from aircraft to terminals. Gerlinde Thompson, from Graz, Austria, said that there had been a lack of staff to handle all the bags from incoming flights: “We were told about extra security, but the real problem has been landing. We landed at 12.10pm, but did not come through until 3.50pm. There are lots of flights collecting in the baggage hall like that and no one was able to tell us what was going on.”

SPORTING DELAYS

Other travellers caught up in the disruption included the New Zealand rowing team, who were among 2,000 athletes arriving for the World Rowing Championships in Eton this weekend; the British Under 14 football team, returning to a rapturous reception after winning the World Championships; and the Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell. John Breslin, sports events manager for UK Athletics, said: “Asafa was told he could not take his laptop and Gameboys on the plane that he was due to take to Zurich, so he chose to take the Eurostar to Paris rather than be separated from his computer equipment. This was supposed to be a dry run for the Olympics. It’s an embarrassment. What are these athletes supposed to think?”

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