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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Travelers faced added security as they returned to the airports Friday morning, one day after authorities in Britain announced that they had thwarted a plot to blow up U.S.-bound jetliners over the Atlantic.

Traffic appeared to be moving smoothly at the three major airports in and around New York City, said Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"It's still fairly early into the day," she said. "We'll see more passenger traffic as the day goes on."

The Port Authority -- operator of John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports in New York, and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey -- reported general arrival and departure delays of up to 15 minutes.

Beginning Friday, passengers will be subject to a second security check at airport gates to bar anyone from carrying liquids onto planes that could be used in an explosion, airline officials said.

After authorities announced the plot on Thursday, some travelers accepted the heightened security as part of life in a world altered by the Sept. 11 attacks.

"You wake up and what are you going to do?" said Sonia Gomes De Mesquita, 40, as she waited at John F. Kennedy International Airport to board a British Airways plane to Heathrow on Thursday morning. "The flight is today."

Because the plot involved liquid explosives, the government immediately banned liquids from the cabins on U.S. flights -- a measure evident at Kennedy, where signs with a circle and a slash announced "no liquid" to people waiting to board planes. Announcements also were aired saying prescription medicine was permitted on flights.

Gov. George Pataki dispatched additional National Guard troops to Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, where there already was an increased presence of Port Authority police and undercover officers. Only two flights on Thursday were canceled, both heading to London, said Pataki.

On its Web site Friday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, reported general or weather-related delays of between 15 and 44 minutes at the airports.

The New York Police Department was appraised of the terrorist investigation for the past several months, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a Manhattan news conference.

Word of the scheme produced some scary moments for air travelers on Thursday. For 12-year-old Maya Bodinson, that moment came when her flight from London was midway across the Atlantic Ocean.

"That was when the bombs were supposed to go off, if there were any," said Maya, who flew with her father, Ron, on the first plane from Heathrow to Kennedy after British authorities announced that they had thwarted the plot.

Other passengers on American Airlines Flight 115 described how they were told in Heathrow to abandon virtually all carryon luggage. Several said the trip was nerve-racking, although ultimately uneventful.

Mike Douglas, 40, of Dallas, said considering the possibility of a terrorist attack was unavoidable.

"It was in the back of your mind," said Douglas. "But it's been in the back of my mind since Sept. 11."

Bloomberg said the city's security level remained at orange, where it has stayed since the 2001 attacks.

"The nature of this plot doesn't lend itself to the kind of added high-profile police presence that we have instituted in the wake of other terrorist plots or attacks," said Bloomberg, mentioning last year's London subway bombing.

In Manhattan, Steve Wong, a New York social worker, went to the midtown British Tourism office on Thursday. He had no plans to cancel a London trip scheduled for next month.

"There are hazards, so we'll be inconvenienced, but I'm not scared," Wong said. "Life goes on, so you just continue."

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)