Airlines preparing to fly alternate routes in case of war TOKYO (AP) =97 The international body overseeing aviation was preparing=20 Thursday to reroute commercial flights around Iraq as the U.S. deadline for= =20 Saddam Hussein's surrender expired and a U.S.-led war with Iraq appeared=20 imminent. The International Air Transport Association has set up a series=20 of contingency plans to avoid the area of conflict, said Anthony Concil, an= =20 IATA spokesman for the Asia-Pacific region. Under the plan, commercial=20 flights will fly "either north or south of Iraq, depending on the area of=20 conflict," said Concil, who is based in Tokyo. The Geneva-based aviation=20 agency has been also negotiating with China to allow flights from Europe=20 into Southeast Asia to fly over the Himalayas, though the need for it seems= =20 limited for the moment, Concil said. "If the conflict spreads further=20 geographically, then this will become more critical," Concil said. "We have= =20 been assured of the highest level of cooperation from the Chinese=20 authorities." Route availability for aircraft flying between Southeast Asia= =20 and Europe has been increased since November, expanding options to airlines= =20 operating in the conflict area, he said. IATA will also set up a 24-hour watch center in Montreal to monitor the=20 war, Concil said. On Wednesday, Royal Jordanian =97 the only commercial=20 airline with regularly scheduled flights to Baghdad =97 said it was= canceling=20 them in anticipation of a U.S.-led war on Iraq. Its flights to Kuwait and=20 other Gulf states were not affected. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************