EU agrees limited help for airlines hit by Iraq war, no major bailout BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) =97 European Union nations agreed Friday to relax=20 regulations and help airlines cope with heavy financial losses connected to= =20 the Iraq war, but said there was no need for a major bailout. "Right now,=20 there's nothing on the agenda about giving millions in aid," said French=20 Transport Minister Gilles de Robien. Instead, the ministers agreed to=20 loosen restrictions that oblige airlines to give up underused routes to=20 rivals. Airlines had appealed for such a move to allow them to cut flights= =20 to the Middle East and other sensitive routes during the crisis without=20 having to relinquish those takeoff and landing slots permanently. The=20 European Airlines Association estimates the Iraq war could add $2.5 billion= =20 to its members' losses. Worldwide, the International Air Transport=20 Association last week warned that airlines could lose $10 billion because=20 of the war, on top of $30 billion in accumulated losses since the Sept.=20 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Despite those forecasts, the EU=20 ministers said the situation was not sufficiently grave to warrant the sort= =20 of handouts or insurance guarantees offered after the Sept. 11 attacks.=20 European airlines said they were not yet pushing for such help. However,=20 they said governments should be ready to step in if insurance companies=20 sharply hike premiums as they did after Sept. 11, or if U.S. rivals secure= =20 bailouts from Washington. "If our competitors in the global marketplace are= =20 using the opportunity to achieve government-supported restructuring ... and= =20 therefore gain an unfair competitive position over European airlines, we=20 will resist this at the highest political level," said Ulrich=20 Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general of the European Airlines Association.= =20 French minister de Robien said European governments would keep a close eye= =20 on any state handouts that put EU carriers at a disadvantage. "If there is= =20 a distortion of competition by the actions of outside countries, then we'd= =20 have to see what we'd do," he told reporters. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************