REDMOND – Cecilia Seesholtz, 42, of Bend, didn’t know about the heightened security alert at airports nationwide when she arrived at the Redmond Airport on Thursday morning.

”I was surprised,” Seesholtz said. ”I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Seesholtz quickly unpacked her carry-on luggage and moved her toiletry kit to her checked luggage before heading toward the security line.

Seesholtz didn’t wait long at the flight check-in or security lines before flying out around noon.

Lines at the check-in and security check in Redmond were longer between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., when the airport has its largest volume of travelers, but no flights were delayed, said Everett Smith, deputy federal security director at the airport for the Transportation Security Administration.

Passengers were not allowed to have any liquids or gels other than baby formula and medicine in their carry-on luggage.

Flyers were advised to check all luggage, according to security postings at the airport.

They were also advised to arrive two hours early because of longer waiting times at flight check-in and security lines.

Travelers going through the Redmond Airport should expect restrictions and delays – especially in the morning, when the heaviest volume of travelers use the airport – to continue until the heightened alerts are called off.

The Transportation Security Administration raised the national security threat level to orange at all U.S. airports and raised it to red for all incoming flights from Great Britain in response to the news that British security agents had thwarted an imminent terrorist attack on flights. The terrorists intended to use liquid explosives, according to news reports.

Red is the highest security alert level, and orange is the second highest.

”What we’ve noticed is a lot more people checking luggage,” said Mike Irwin, Oregon’s federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration in Portland. ”The security checkpoints get slowed down by people who have to remove items from their luggage.”

In addition to the new restrictions on liquids and gels, an orange alert means airports must increase security patrols, sweeps with bomb-sniffing dogs, overhead announcements and luggage checks at security lines, Irwin said.

Smith estimated that security personnel at the Redmond Airport were checking about 30 percent more carry-on luggage than they typically do, in response to the heightened security level.

”(Waiting time) has been a little bit longer but not overbearing,” Smith said.

Neither Smith nor Irwin knew how long the heightened security alert would remain in effect or whether the new security measures would become permanent.

”People are being fairly responsive, and we’re very happy about that,” Irwin said. ”I thought it would be a bit tougher.”

Sherry Kirkwood manages Journeys by Ambassador, a travel agency in Bend. Several clients’ flights from the East Coast were delayed by long lines at international airports, she said.

Kirkwood said security personnel are examining all bottles on checked luggage because of the heightened alert.

”It’d be easier just to buy your toiletries on the other side,” Kirkwood said.

Steve Keville, 50, and Ed LaMacchia, 49, arrived in Redmond from Denver on Thursday morning and said that other than a slightly longer wait in the security line, their trip was normal.

”There were lots of people dumping soap, shampoo (and) hand cream and guzzling water,” LaMacchia said.