Flying ban disrupts world's travel plans

By TONY VERDON

It was "groundstop" day - the day the world stopped flying as passengers and airlines coped with the unprecedented grounding of all civilian flights to and from the United States.

Hundreds of flights were diverted as airlines scrambled to cope with the flight ban after the wave of airborne terror attacks on New York and Washington.

All New Zealand flights to and from the US were cancelled, and last night Air New Zealand still had a Boeing 747 jumbo jet on the ground in Los Angeles, and another in London.

Two Air New Zealand flights were diverted in mid-flight and did not land in the United States.

Air New Zealand flight NZ54, a Boeing 767, had left Auckland for Rarotonga and Los Angeles but was diverted to Tahiti. It was due to return to Auckland just before midnight.

The second American-bound Air New Zealand flight, NZ2, a Boeing 747, had taken off from Auckland and was heading for Los Angeles and London. It was turned back mid-flight, and arrived in Auckland at 8.20 am yesterday.

United Airlines said it had grounded all its flights throughout the world until this morning.

By last night Air New Zealand had cancelled eight flights, including last night's NZ2 flight from Auckland to Los Angeles and London.

Los Angeles International Airport remained closed last night, and US authorities could give no indication when North American flights would resume.

The US Federal Aviation Administration ordered its first "groundstop" to continue until at least early today, and aviation authorities said it was not yet known when the ban would be lifted.

One United flight arrived in Auckland yesterday from America but it had taken off before the World Trade Center was hit.

The airline said that flight would not take off as scheduled for Melbourne, and passengers were reassigned to Qantas and Air New Zealand flights.

The cancellations and diversions caused confusion and congestion at many European airports, where airlines ordered flights bound for the US to do u-turns or find landing points outside America.

There are about 500 westbound Atlantic crossings a day, each flight carrying about 400 passengers.

Asian airlines also suspended or diverted hundreds of flights, stranding thousands of passengers.

Some airlines reversed course only after being denied permission to land by the FAA.

Transatlantic flights were unlikely to restart until today at the earliest, said the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, or Eurocontrol.

"Today's events will cast a 20-year shadow over international civil aviation," said Phil Butterworth-Hayes, civil aviation editor of the Jane's publishing group in Britain.

New Zealand tourism operators were taking stock after the carnage cast a shadow over Kiwis' overseas travel plans.

The cost to the world's tourism industry would stretch well into the billions of dollars, Tourism Industry Association chief executive John Moriarty said.

One of the most high-profile symbols of American technological might - Nasa's Kennedy Space Center - was shut and placed under the highest state of emergency readiness, the first time in the facility's 39-year history that the security level had been ordered.

* Passengers grounded or diverted as a result of the crisis should be eligible for reasonable accommodation or travel expenses under their travel insurance policies, says Mike Henry (NZ).

Travellers whose sole destination was New York City or the Pentagon would still be covered by their policy.

Cover would not be provided for travellers elsewhere who were disinclined to travel.

Travellers who had yet to leave, and whose destinations included New York City or the Pentagon, would be insured for reasonable additional travel costs, if it was feasible to travel to another destination.

Travel insurance companies said this was a breaking story and travel insurance conditions could change if it was found to be an act of terrorism by a nation state.

Full coverage: Terror in America

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The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims

These numbers are valid for calls from within New Zealand, but may be overloaded at the moment.

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068

Online database for friends and family