British Airways flights cancelled over security concerns

Cancellations of more flights over "security concerns" have prompted pilots and airline chiefs to question the quality of security intelligence.

British Airways says it will axe flight BA 223, the now notoriously disrupted Washington to London service. However, both airlines and pilots have expressed exasperation at the frequent disruptions to certain services on certain dates that are believed to be based on fragmentary evidence from intelligence sources.

Pilots' union general secretary Jim McAuslan said he believed that US intelligence services were "jumping at shadows" as their imaginations ran riot.

Yesterdays' cancellation announcements saw BA forced to offer the affected passengers alternative flights.

The airline has been hit hardest by delays and cancellations, and concerns have been raised that passengers will book on other airlines that have not been affected by the security alerts.

Flight BA 223 to Washington has now been cancelled five times in two months, though British Airways' two other Washington flights remain unaffected by security alerts.

British Airways said that following advice from the UK government, Sunday's BA223 flight from London to Washington had been cancelled due to "security reasons". Also cancelled is Monday's flight BA263 from London Heathrow to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia also for security reasons.

BA apologised to customers booked to travel on these flights for the inconvenience caused, but said "the safety and security of our operation is always our first priority".

(SP)