American airspace re-opens for commercial flights

Although the US Department of Transportation reopened US airspace at 11:00 EDT on Thursday many airlines around the world will find it difficult to get regular flights back on schedule.

Following the hijacking of at least four flights in American airspace airports around the world re-examined their security measures. Passengers at Belfast International Airport were urged to bring as little hand luggage as possible and some airlines have banned hand luggage altogether. Passengers were urged to check with their airline before flying.

Transatlantic flights from Europe to the US are not expected to resume until Friday at the earliest.

Amid concerns about lax airport security on US domestic flights only those airports that can meet tightened security protocols put in place by the US Department of Transport would be allowed to reopen.

Among the first to file flight plans were those aircraft diverted to Canada. But many carriers said that they could not resume flights on Thursday. This caused further chaos at airports as passengers turned up desperate to get on flights.

Following Tuesday morning’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington the US Federal Aviation Administration cleared diverted flights to continue on to their destination, but, for the first time in American aviation history, ordered all other commercial flights to remain on the ground.

New restrictions on US flights include a total ban on all knives, stringent on-site airport check-in procedures, and a resumption of the use of federal air marshals. (SP)