U.K. Bank Freezes Assets of 19 Terror Suspects

Earlier at the airport, John Jackson, 50, of Accokeek, sat at a table near a Starbucks cart and settled in for a very long wait. He arrived at 5:15 a.m. at the Delta counter, only to learn that his 7:59 a.m. flight was delayed till 1:15 p.m. The same flight had been cancelled the night before. So with hours to spare, he ordered a large cup of coffee and reached for a paperback novel.

"I was expecting it to be much worse, but I got through the lines very quickly," he said. "It's pretty much normal around here."

At Dulles International Airport, tour operator Jean Smith helped one of her groups prepare for a flight out. "It's not as congested and people seem more organized and calm today," she said.

Smith said she called every passenger in her group last night to remind them not to pack any gels or liquids in carry-on bags, and all of them complied.

Julie Ashey, of Fairfax, also at Dulles for a family trip to Cancun, Mexico, to celebrate two family birthdays and an anniversary, said that while they were "a little nervous" about traveling, "we're going on the theory that it's a great thing they caught them, and it's probably a little safer today than it was last week or will be next week."

"Americans seem to be determined not to be affected by terrorism," said Ashey.

At Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, three young tourists from Ireland tried in vain to reschedule a flight to New York that had been interrupted yesterday and forced to land in Maryland. A mix-up this morning caused them to miss flights at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

"Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed" said Ruth Casey, 21. After working at bars in Myrtle Beach, S.C., this summer, she and her friends were hoping to catch a final weekend in the Big Apple before returning to the U.K. through clogged Heathrow.

The most disrupted airport was still London's Heathrow, where some 96 flights, outbound and inbound, mostly long haul, were cancelled, a relatively small proportion of the average of 1200 daily departures and arrivals at Heathrow's terminals.

At Heathrow's ticket counters Friday morning, mothers and fathers pulled dolls, stuffed bears, juice and snacks out of the hands of their wailing children, complying with tight new security limits on carry-on items.

Travelers could carry wallets, keys, medicine and a few other essential items, with parents able to carry only a few infant supplies, such as a small amount of baby milk or food, diapers, and baby wipes -- nothing more.

The line at security stretched across the length of the departure hall. Hundreds upon hundreds of passengers waited, single file.

"No! No way!'' traveler Gultane Boyraz said, her jaw dropping open, when she finally found her way to the end of the line, amazed at its length. "Oh, my goodness!"

British transportation and airline officials said that air traffic was much improved over Thursday but that significant delays were still expected. Airports in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, for instance, reported near-normal service.

"Heathrow is slowly but surely returning to normal," said British Airports Authority managing director Tony Douglas. He advised passengers to arrive early at their terminals without any carry-on luggage, with carry-on items inside clear plastic bags.

Nick Anderson and Eggen reported from Washington. Staff writers Fred Barbash, Fredrick Kunkle, Spenser Hsu , Jamie Stockwell and Shearon Roberts in Washington, and Ellen Knickmeyer in London , contributed to this report.