Millions of air passengers were warned that they could suffer a repeat of last summer’s Heathrow chaos, as the head of the world’s busiest international airport quit on the eve of the hectic holiday peak period. Heathrow’s chief executive, Tony Douglas,said the UK’s main flight hub was operating beyond capacity and faces a “tough” nine months before a fifth terminal opens to relieve congestion.

As a critical six week period approaches, the outgoing airport head said he could not guarantee a smooth ride for passengers: “I cannot tell if there will not be an extraordinary event like last summer.” The alleged liquid bomb plot last August brought Heathrow to a standstill as emergency security measures were implemented, exposing the strained state of the airport’s operations.

British airports are braced for a difficult summer as they prepare to handle record numbers of passengers, with at least 20m holidaymakers expected to fly in and out of the UK in the next two months.

As well as the current draconian security guidelines inside terminals across the UK, passengers face extra delays in getting to the airport following last month’s attempted suicide bombing at Glasgow airport. All UK international terminals have been ringed with concrete since the attack and some still have restrictions on private cars drawing up to departures.

Mr Douglas stepped down less than a month after admitting that Heathrow was “bursting at the seams” and in “some places is held together with sticking plasters.”

The transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, provided some hope for air passengers yesterday by announcing the intention to raise the limit on hand luggage to two bags per passenger, but only after airports guaranteed the new allowance would not compromise security or lengthen queues. It means the rules will not be relaxed until after the peak holiday season, if at all.

The Air Transport Users Council expressed concern at the timing of Mr Douglas’s resignation, which deprives the airport of its top executive just as it prepares for peak of 200,000 people a day.

“We hope there is some continuity with all the improvements they have put in place,” said an AUC spokesman.

Mr Douglas, who is to be chief operating officer at construction giant Laing O’Rourke, said the airport would not be disrupted by his departure. “The team in place here are very professional and very competent and have made appropriate plans to deal without me. No organisation is one person and Heathrow is a prime example of that. I will not make the difference between a great summer and an indifferent one.” However, he admitted that whoever runs the airport must handle infrastructure that was designed to process 45 million passengers per year but now receives 68 million.

“Until it gets additional capacity, Heath row will always be tough. Contrast it with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, or Amsterdam Schiphol. They all operate at 70% capacity. We are at 98.5% every day.”

Mr Douglas’s successor will be Heathrow’s managing director, Mark Bullock.

Mindful of an inquiry that could order the breakup of BAA, the airport owner has been on a hiring spree to open up more security checkpoints at its airports, which include Stansted, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It has hired 1,400 new staff, of which more than 500 have been deployed in security areas at Heathrow, which has suffered the worst queues.

Despite the recent hirings, passengers are reacting with scepticism to assurances that, if they turn up to airports in good time and have noted the security restrictions, they will pass through major airports with minimal delays.

It is not just security that will cause delays. New passport scanners that double the length of time it takes to check a passenger’s details have been rolled out across the UK and are already causing queues at passport control areas.

Vital statistics

The number of passengers Heathrow receives each year: 68m

Holidaymakers expected to fly in and out the UK in next two months: 20m

The percentage of capacity that Heathrow operates at: 98.5%

TORONTO: Canadas Toronto-Dominion Bank will buy Commerce Bancorp Inc in a cash-and-stock deal worth $8.5 billion which will expand its footprint in the United States, the banks said on Tuesday.

The transaction, involving 75 percent stock and 25 percent cash, will see TD, Canadas second-biggest bank, take a one-time pretax restructuring charge of about $490 million.

Commerce shareholders will get 0.4142 of a TD common share and $10.50 in cash for each common share of Commerce Bancorp.

That values the deal at $42.37 per Commerce share, based on TDs closing price on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the banks said in a statement. Commerce, New Jerseys largest bank, closed at $39.74 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

The deal will close in March or April 2008, subject to approval of Commerce shareholders and US and Canadian regulators.

To reduce exposure to changes in interest rates, Commerce said it will sell a portion of its fixed-rate investment securities portfolio and reinvest in short-term or floating-rate AAA-rates securities.

This will result in an after-tax charge of about $150 million for Commerce in the third quarter.

TD said the transaction is expected to be 28 cents dilutive to its fiscal 2008 earnings, and 22 cents dilutive in 2009. On an adjusted basis, it will be 10 cents dilutive in 2008 and flat in 2009.

In June, Commerce announced the departure of its longtime chief executive Vernon Hill. Analysts said the move left the bank vulnerable to a takeover, which Hill had long resisted.

TIGER Airways will offer flights from Melbourne to Darwin for $80 one way from December.

Tiger chief executive Tony Davis’ announcement marks the official start of the Singapore Airlines-backed carrier’s assault on Australia’s domestic market.

Jetstar struck back, bettering Tiger’s offer with flights from Melbourne to Darwin for $79.

The announcement came as Jetstar’s parent company, Qantas, announced its earnings result and said 2006-07 profit before tax was in line with market expectations.

Its strong load figures have led analysts to increase their forecasts since the last upgrade in March.

At the time, Qantas predicted a $940 million pre-tax annual profit. Yesterday, the median of analyst forecasts calculated by Bloomberg predicted a record $1.06 billion pre-tax profit.

Until now, Tiger had refused to reveal when its domestic services would start or what routes it would fly, despite naming Melbourne as its home base two months ago.

Mr Davis said one-way tickets for the daily Melbourne to Darwin flight, which are on sale, would cost $79.99. Flights would start on December 1.

“Tiger Airways is pleased to offer our first domestic route, linking our home base of Melbourne and our international gateway of Darwin,” Mr Davis said.

Tiger will also offer “Flight Combo” fares between Melbourne and Singapore for $499 return.

Jetstar will drop the price on its Melbourne to Darwin flights from an average of $189 one way to $79.

“Tiger seems to have rolled out one of the cubs or a domestic cat to get things rolling,” Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said.

“They certainly aren’t single-digit fares, which they were talking about before.”

Mr Davis said Tiger would be adding further routes to its domestic network over coming weeks.

With Scott Rochfort