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WASHINGTON - Authorities were concerned with terrorism threats in the air and on the ground Saturday. The British government delayed a London-to-Washington flight for three hours and U.S. officials monitored heavily secured stadiums hosting the first round of football playoffs.
British Airways 223, the most scrutinized flight since the United States declared a high terrorism alert Dec. 21, lifted off from Heathrow Airport just after 1 p.m. EST after intensive security checks.
The plane had the all-clear earlier from Britain's Transport Department.
The subsequent checks added to the misery of passengers on a flight also detained in Washington on Wednesday and canceled Thursday and Friday.
The British government has declined to provide details of its security concerns about the flight.
The department said it took action Saturday following discussions "with a variety of sources," including U.S. authorities.
A British Airways morning flight to Washington D.C. left on schedule at 5:55 a.m. EST Saturday.
While the flights have resumed, a British minister warned that airplane passengers should expect similar disruptions for the foreseeable future.
The country's transport secretary, Alistair Darling, said on the BBC's Radio 4 program Saturday that British Airways canceled the flights because British authorities had received "specific information" and concluded the information was credible.
Passengers were questioned but no one has been arrested.
"We look at the intelligence ourselves," Darling said. "We evaluate it, and we then decide what the appropriate action is."
"The reason that different flights are either grounded or there is increased security varies from time to time," he said. "Of course Britain and the United States have access to similar intelligence, and we share information. We do so with other countries as well. You would expect us to do that."
About a dozen flights to and from the United States have been canceled in the past 10 days as authorities tightened security restrictions on U.S. airspace over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles were canceled over Christmas. A French police official said Friday that the cancellations came after some passengers on the manifests were wrongly identified as terrorist suspects.
Other routes under scrutiny during the code orange alert in the United States were London-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Mexico City-Los Angeles.
British Airways also canceled Saturday's Flight BA263 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, citing a security warning from the British government. Sunday's return flight, BA262, was also canceled.
The airline had not decided whether Monday's flight to Riyadh would go ahead.
The United States is working closely with other countries to lessen the threat of terrorism on international flights.
South Korea's national police agency, responding to American requests for international cooperation, said it would have armed officers on individual U.S.-bound flights if warranted, based on information about a terrorist threat to any specific flight.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Saturday that authorities have been discussing security with the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association during the playoff and college bowl season.
NFL playoff games Saturday were in Baltimore and Charlotte, N.C., with contests today in Green Bay, Wis., and Indianapolis. There were weekend bowl games in Boise, Idaho, and New Orleans.
NFL spokesman Joe Browne said security has been tight since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and air space over stadiums is restricted by federal legislation.
He said security for the Super Bowl, Feb. 1 in Houston, would be even more intense because of the international attention the event receives. "The No. 1 concern our fans have is the air space," he said. Spectators are less concerned about stadium security because "they see our tightened measures as they enter the gates and the parking lots."
- Information from the New York Times and Associated Press was used in this report.