January 31, 2004
U.S. officials said Friday that new intelligence indicated Flight 223 and Air France flights from Paris to an unspecified U.S. city could be terrorist targets.
Flight 223 to Washington's Dulles airport will not fly on Sunday or Monday, but is to depart on schedule at 3:05 p.m. local time Saturday, said an airline spokeswoman. Flight 207 to Miami will not fly on Sunday, she said, but had departed Saturday morning.
The spokeswoman, who declined to be identified, said BA had canceled the flights on the advice of the British government. She cited security fears but gave no further details.
"The safety and security of our operations is our absolute priority and will not be compromised," the airline said.
BA's Flight 223 had been the subject of concern early in January, when it was canceled twice because of security fears and then delayed for hours several more times.
A British Department for Transport spokesman said the decision to cancel the flights was made "in the light of information received."
"Aviation security measures are adjusted from time to time, and occasional cancellations may be necessary," he said on condition of anonymity. "The first priority is always the safety of the traveling public."
In Washington, officials said the national threat alert level won't be raised despite renewed concerns about terrorist threats against British and French flights headed for the United States. New intelligence indicates that British Airways (search) flights from London to Washington and Air France (search) flights from Paris to an unspecified U.S. city could continue be terrorist targets, U.S. officials said.
Some of the flights are the same as those that drew increased attention when the nation's terror alert was raised temporarily to orange, or high, just before Christmas.
There are no plans to raise the terror alert from the current yellow, or elevated, level because of the latest threats, Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.
"We remain concerned about Al Qaeda's (search) desire to target aviation, especially international aviation," he said. "The U.S. intelligence community continues to gather specific credible threat information on international flights, as we have done in an ongoing basis in the past few weeks. We have shared this information with our international partners, and will work with them to put in place the appropriate security measures."
Over the holidays, security was tightened considerably around the flights that concerned officials. Passenger airline cargo was inspected, for example, and law enforcement's presence was increased at airports.
A senior law enforcement official said the intelligence being gathered is similar to what U.S. authorities were hearing during the heightened terror alert. That prompted U.S. officials to ask for the cancellation of two British Airways flights from London to Washington and six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles.
A number of other flights were delayed for hours so passengers could be checked against watch lists.
One of those flights, British Airways Flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles International Airport, is the subject of ongoing concern by intelligence officials.
U.S. officials say they believe the process for checking the backgrounds of airline passengers and crews has been improved so that those long delays probably won't be repeated.
An Air France spokeswomen in New York, Diane Cornman, said there was good cooperation among the airline and U.S. and French government officials. "We have been complying with all security measures," she said.
A telephone call to British Airways seeking comment wasn't returned immediately.
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