Israel closes air space for 24 hours following US attacks
By Haim Shapiro
JERUSALEM (September 12) - Following yesterday's terror attacks on the US, Israel closed its air space to all incoming flights by foreign airlines for 24 hours.
Airports Authority spokesman Pini Schiff said that the decision to close the air space was a security measure made by Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh.
Schiff said the closure, which went into effect at about 7 p.m. last night, eft El Al, and to a lesser extent Arkia and Israir, with the only air link to Israel.
El Al spokesman Nachman Kleiman said that flights last night to and from the US had been cancelled or delayed, but El Al flights to and from other destinations had not been affected.
Even before the measure was announced, some airlines cancelled their flights to Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. Hundreds of people waiting to fly to Israel were stranded in airports around the world.
Italian aviation authorities cancelled flights to Beirut and Amman, as well as Tel Aviv.
Schiff said that any aircraft belonging to foreign airlines that were in Israel would be allowed to take off as usual. Transportation Ministry officials said that the closure would be reviewed after 24 hours.
The news of the tragedy came as Airport Authority workers were delaying the take-off of flights as part of a labor dispute. Following the news, the workers quickly called off their action.
El Al announced last night that its midnight flight to the US was cancelled, and the passengers were to be transferred to morning flights, while the flight that was due to leave at 1 a.m. was to be delayed until 8 a.m. this morning.
Today's flights to the US are due to take off as scheduled, the company said. An El Al flight that took off at 11 a.m. yesterday morning was diverted to Toronto as a result of the closure of US air space.
Two flights that were due to have departed from New York for Israel were also cancelled yesterday. The company said that new flight times would be announced after the US aviation authorities re-opened American air space.
A Delta Airlines flight which left Ben-Gurion Airport for New York at 1:50 p.m. yesterday was rerouted in mid-flight to London because of the closure of the New York airports. The 165 passengers were accommodated in hotels there until they could fly to the US.
A Continental Airlines flight which was due to have left for the US last night was cancelled, along with all of the company's flights.
A spokesperson for the company pointed out that virtually all of the US airlines have cancelled their flights.
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