Transport secretary Ruth Kelly will tell travel industry representatives at a summit next week to expect no let up in airport security measures.
The meeting on airport security comes ahead of schools across England breaking up for the summer holiday and concern this will trigger chaos at airports reminiscent of last August.
Government officials, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, have stressed that people should expect queues at airports. Brown told reporters: “It is going to be difficult, but people want to know that they going to be secure.”
Kelly confirmed a Travel Weekly report that heightened security measures would remain for the foreseeable future. She promised a £1.5 million campaign to ensure passengers understood the security restrictions, including the limits on carry-on luggage and liquids.
A British Airways spokesman said security at Heathrow and Gatwick was operating normally this week, but added: “It’s impossible to say for definite what will happen when the schools break up.”
A spokesman for airport operator BAA said: “We get a lot of people who only travel once a year at this time. They are not familiar with security procedures, which may exacerbate delays.”
British Air Transport Association secretary-general Roger Wiltshire conceded a let-up was unlikely.
“Customers at the busiest airports are not getting a great service,” he said. “But it seems there will be no changes, although we hope they could look at easing [things] for transfer passengers, at least on a trial basis.”
MP Brian Donohue, who chairs the Labour Party’s parliamentary transport committee, called for UK airports to adopt US-style security measures. These have been blamed by the US travel industry for a serious downturn in visitors to the country.