European airline group calls for refunds of war costs BERLIN (AP) =97 The head of a European airline industry group called for the= =20 continent's governments to guarantee that airlines will be refunded extra=20 costs caused by the war in Iraq, and said passenger traffic had dipped=20 significantly in the first week of fighting. "We are in the most critical=20 situation that the air transport industry has ever experienced," Ulrich=20 Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general of the Association of European=20 Airlines, was quoted Sunday by the Tagesspiegel daily. In the first week of= =20 the war, passenger kilometers flown by European companies fell by 12%, with= =20 the deficit on flights inside Europe reaching 15%, he said. "We need a=20 political commitment that extra costs related to the war will be refunded=20 to us," Schulte-Strathaus said, without elaborating. On Friday, European=20 Union nations agreed to loosen restrictions that require airlines to give=20 up underused routes to rivals. Airlines had appealed for such a move to=20 allow them to cut flights to the Middle East and other sensitive routes=20 during the crisis without having to relinquish those takeoff and landing=20 slots permanently. Still, EU ministers said the situation was not=20 sufficiently grave to warrant the sort of handouts or insurance guarantees= =20 offered after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, as insurance=20 companies sharply hiked premiums. The Association of European Airlines has= =20 estimated the Iraq war could add $2.5 billion to the losses of its 30=20 members, which include British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France.=20 Worldwide, the International Air Transport Association last week warned=20 that airlines could lose $10 billion because of the war, on top of $30=20 billion in accumulated losses since the Sept. 11 attacks. *************************************************** 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.ttsailing.org/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************