Manufacturing Industry

World reacts to US aircraft hijacks; aviation world in a turmoil

Airline Industry Information, Sept 11, 2001

Today's (11 September) terrorist attacks on the USA involving four hijacked passenger aircraft have caused shocked reactions throughout the world.

UK Prime Minister Tony Minister cancelled a speech he was due to make to union leaders in Brighton and stated that democracies throughout the world must "fight this evil." He also said that such attacks were the worker of "fanatics, utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life," according to CNN.com. Ananova also reported that Blair had offered US President Bush his full support for bringing the terrorists to justice, stating "This is not a battle between the United Sates and terrorism, but between the free and democratic world and terrorism. We therefore here in Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with out American friends in this hour of tragedy and we, like them, will not rest until this evil is driven from our world."

Blair also indicated that security across the UK has been tightened and that no flights would leave Britain unless maximum security was guaranteed. Further, no flights will be permitted to cross central London and private flights will need special authorisation.

A flight carrying Prince Andrew to Atlanta and New York, USA was also apparently turned back to Britain after learning of the hijackings according to Reuters.

In Europe, French President Jacques Chirac has decried the attacks as "monstrous" and French armed troops have been deployed at the nation's airports and Metro (railway) stations. The US Embassy in Paris has warned Americans to be careful about speaking English in public.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to US President George Bush, saying that the acts "must not go unpunished." Chinese President Jiang Zemin has also expressed his sympathy over the attacks, while Cuba has joined in the condemnation of the actions. Other countries sending words of sympathy or denouncing the attacks include Brazil, China, South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Guy Verhofstadt, the Prime Minister of Belgium - the current seat of the European Union - also stated, "On behalf of the European Union, [Verhofstadt and foreign minister Louis Michel] condemn in the strongest possible terms this type of cowardly attack on innocent civilians." EU foreign ministers are due to hold an emergency meeting on 12 September to consider a response to the tragedies.

Meanwhile, Israel has closed its airspace to foreign airlines and only Israeli carriers carrying out strict security checks will be allowed to land at the country's four airports. The airspace ban will be in effect for 24 hours, after which a review will be made. Incoming flights are being diverted to other airports outside of Israel, The Associated Press reported.

Canada scheduled an emergency Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (11 September) to discuss the situation and flights out of Toronto's Pearson International Airport have been cancelled. Several flights supposed to land in New York are expected to arrive in Toronto during the day, but otherwise "nothing is leaving or landing at the airport" according to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

In further response to the US attacks, Pakistan International Airlines has suspended all of its US-bound flights until New York's JFK airport reopens. Flights to other destinations will operate however as normal, Reuters reported. Hong Kong airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, has also cancelled flights bound for the USA, as has South African Airways, all Brazilian carriers, Germany's Lufthansa and Air France.

Many airlines, such as Finland's Finnair, either turned back flights already departed for the USA or have diverted them elsewhere. Iberia of Spain had four flights en route to New York, three of which turned back, while the fourth was trying to get clearance to land in Canada. Italy's Alitalia has not only cancelled flights to the USA, but also those scheduled to fly to destinations in the Middle East, including Beirut, Amman, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

A high alert has been placed in effect at Schiphol international airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and security at other European airports, including the UK, has also be tightened.

Finally, in the USA, many airlines have issued notices indicating that all their aircraft have been accounted for and that any flights in the air will land at the nearest available airport in accordance with a directive issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Airlines in the USA are not expected to resume until noon on 12 September at the earliest after the nation's airports were shut down.

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