The Spanish airline Iberia said Thursday that it was canceling flights to London's Heathrow Airport until noon after British police announced early Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight.

Iberia said it had canceled two flights from Madrid and one each from Barcelona and Bilbao, following a request made by British airports authorities in the wake of the discovery of the terrorist plot.

Iberia added that flights taking off from Heathrow, the only British airport used by Iberia "are late due to checks carried out at the airport but are taking off normally."

The Spanish airports authority also warned of "major disruption" arising from the suspension of flights in and out of Heathrow.

Authorities said the Heathrow Airport had been closed to all incoming flights, as Britain raised its security threat level to "critical" from "severe," the highest in the five-level rating for security threats in the country.

Source: Xinhua