New York airports closed again, limited flights elsewhere

All three of New York city's airports have been closed, just hours after re-opening this morning.

And CNN quotes the US Federal Aviation administration (FAA) as saying three people have been detained at one of the airports - John F Kennedy.

Tighter security measures are causing turbulence for the global airline industry as it tries to resume limited US flights two days after terror attacks in New York and Washington.

Airports began to open in the United States - although incoming foreign flights remained banned.

Some domestic flights landed without incident, while others were scheduled and then delayed. Still others were turned away. Confusion among passengers lingered.

Normal operations looked days or even weeks away.

Many US airlines moved planes to where they needed them for very limited, revised operations on domestic routes. Initial trans-Atlantic flights from European carriers were turned away even after they were en route.

Italian flag carrier Alitalia took off from Rome bound for New York but then turned around. A TAP-Air Portugal flight also turned back to Lisbon as the Federal Aviation Administration said it would only accept international flights from US carriers.

Travellers who arrived at US airports hoping to fly were greeted by tighter security. No electronic tickets were valid, no kerbside check-in allowed. Passengers were warned to arrive at least two hours before departure time.

Some airlines like Air France simply cancelled flights, not yet ready to implement the new stringent security measures. Two Air France flights had been scheduled to go to New York, one to Atlanta and one to Washington.

"I must caution everyone that a system as diverse and complex as ours cannot be brought back up instantly," said Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

The impact was felt around the globe.

London's City Airport was likely to reopen on Friday. But a spokesman said flight paths would be changed to avoid the nearby Canary Wharf, the east London skyscraper housing the British offices of large financial services companies.

United Airlines had planned to resume some limited service but at midday announced there would be no normal scheduled service, domestic or international, until Friday.

United had two jets hijacked in the Tuesday attacks -- one that crashed into the World Trade Center and another that crashed in western Pennsylvania. All 110 passengers and crew on the flights were killed.

At Dallas/Fort Worth, headquarters of American Airlines, about 30 flights were expected to take off around 6 am. American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, had two planes crash in the terror attacks, killing 156 aboard.

Delta Air Lines flights were expected to resume on a very limited basis today, while smaller carriers like JetBlue Airways were on a reduced schedule, resuming just 14 of 84 scheduled flights.

The constantly changing schedules confused passengers.

Mohammed Wajihuddin, a businessman from India, took a train from Detroit to Chicago and was at O'Hare International Airport trying to fly to Houston. "I hope to go tomorrow," he said. "I have to say that the situation is rather confusing. I hope that things will come to be normal very soon."

Jaymee and Bob Elliott, a couple from Dallas, were trying to decide if they should hop in a rental car and drive back to Texas or wait until tomorrow and take their chances on a United flight. They said they were going to flip a coin.

At Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, the nation's busiest, flights were resuming but on a very limited basis, said spokesman Benjamin DeCosta. Airports at Miami, Minneapolis and San Francisco were open. Chicago's O'Hare, a major business hub, opened by afternoon as did smaller Midway Airport on the city's south side.

But it was far from business as usual.

"I can't emphasise strongly enough that the resumption of air travel will be a long and tedious process," said Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley at a news conference. "It will take days, maybe even weeks, to get things back to normal."

At Boston's Logan International Airport, where two of the hijacked flights originated, officials said they did not know how long it would take to meet the new security guidelines set by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The mayor's office in Cleveland, Ohio, said the city's Hopkins airport was expected to begin flying almost immediately after the FAA lifted a ban on flying. But initial flights were only "touch and go" test flights, the office said.

Overall, only a fraction of the 4,000 commercial airplanes that operate on a daily basis in the United States were expected to take off on Thursday.

Airline officials quickly realised the magnitude of the problem, both logistical and financial, now facing the global commercial aviation industry.

William Gaillard, spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, said the industry could face worldwide losses of $US10 billion this week alone.

A veteran US airline analyst, Sam Buttrick of UBS Warburg, said if all planes are parked, US airlines lose about $US120 million per day.

The US trade association for airlines was lobbying hard for changes as its members hemorrhage money and travellers were thinking twice about flying.

"Even as we continue the search, rescue and recovery efforts, we must restore the confidence, customer service and commerce of the air transport system," said Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transport Association.

The ATA said airline chief executives and security staff had held regular conference calls with the FAA since Wednesday, including at night, in an effort to return diverted flights and reposition aircraft.

- REUTERS, HERALD STAFF

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