"Basra airport opening put off"

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Basra airport opening put off
Kuwait - The Arab Times


KUWAIT CITY: The opening of Basra International Airport has been postponed
for a month, says a spokesman for the British forces. A Polish Airlines
(LOT) plane scheduled to arrive at the airport Wednesday has been forced to
cancel the flight due to the posponement.

Captain Hisham Halawi told the Arab Times Tuesday the decision was to
"enable airline companies create more business for themselves through
advertisements and give them more time to create the supporting
infrastructure (bus service, hotels etc) in the city."

He said the postponement has nothing to do with recent fatal attacks on the
British forces in the city. He added that the LOT flight was cancelled
because there were no passengers for the trip. Commenting on the attacks,
Capt Halawi said "those are tragic incidents. We are working with Iraqi
authorities to find who are responsible for the attacks and bring them to
justice."

He said religious and tribal leaders in Basra have been offering their
condolences to British troops since the attacks. "They've assured us of
their support in rebuilding Iraq," he added. British forces had planned to
open Basra airport to six international airlines - SAS Scandinavian
Airlines, Polish Airlines (LOT), Gulf Air, Qatari Airlines, Royal Jordanian
Airlines and Emirates Airlines.

Captain Halawi told a press conference Aug 16 at Sheraton Hotel, "the
opening of Basra airport has been delayed because Iraqis have to be trained
in the implementation of international guidelines on customs and excise
duties, baggage handling and other related issues. The airport will be
opened as soon as the training of staff is completed."

He said infrastructure at Basra airport is in good shape because Basra did
not suffer significant war damage, apart from the Baath Party headquarters
which was bombed.

"There was no significant damage to the airport buildings. The runway and
control tower are fully operational. There have been military planes and
humanitarian aid flights by Antonov cargo planes, which are bigger than
jumbo jets, arriving at the airport pretty much everyday." AFP adds: Polish
national airline LOT will delay the start of scheduled flights to Iraq due
to security concerns, after Polish troops came under attack, the company
said Tuesday.

"The flight on Aug 27 as well as those on Sept 3 and 10 have been cancelled
by authorities at Basra international airport," said LOT spokesman Pavel
Klimiuk. The company hopes its first flight to Iraq will take place
mid-September, he added.

The announcement comes following a mortar attack on a Polish army base in
the holy city of Karbala on Monday. No one was hurt in the attack, which
took place as the Polish army prepares to take over control next week of one
of four administrative regions into which the US-led occupying force has
divided Iraq.

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