Airlines Cut Flights to Mideast As Iraqi Pullout Deadline Nears

As the U.N.-imposed Jan. 15 deadline for Iraqi troop withdrawal from Kuwait approaches, some international airlines are suspending or curtailing flights to the Middle East, while the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has moved up its exam schedule to allow for the quick departure of foreign students.

Pan American World Airways announced last week it was suspending indefinitely flights to Tel Aviv and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, because of a tremendous increase in the cost of flight insurance. Until now, Pan Am operated twice weekly flights to Riyadh and flew six days a week to Tel Aviv.

Pan Am’s Jan. 3 announcement followed decisions by airlines, including British Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, to reduce flights to Tel Aviv from six to four times a week.

British Airways will institute the new policy starting Jan. 15 through March 31. An airline spokeswoman attributed the cutback to a winter slowdown in ticket demand.

This follows the airline’s decision three months ago to change flight schedules so flight crews and airplanes would not have to stay overnight in Tel Aviv, which Saddam Hussein vowed would be Iraq’s first target if it is attacked.

Other airlines with the same policy include Swissair, KLM and Air France.

The Israeli Tourism Ministry criticized Pan Am’s decision and urged the airline to resume services as soon as possible.

“To our view, there is no reason for Pan Am to suspend this service,” said Rafael Farber, tourism commissioner for North America. “Life in Israel continues in a normal fashion, and thousands of tourists from countries all over the world are continuing to enjoy their stay.”

REWARDS IRAQ, UNDERMINES ISRAEL

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations also protested Pan Am’s decision, in a letter to the airline’s president, William Acker.

The conference, which represents 50 secular and religious agencies, said that “cancellation of Pan Am flights is a victory for Saddam Hussein and rewards him while undermining America’s closest ally, Israel.”

Pan Am was hit hard by an increase at the start of the new year in flight insurance, which was raised last week from $3,500 per flight to $65,000 for planes flying to Israel. For flights to Riyadh, coverage rose from $16,000 to $162,000, said Pam Hanlon, an Pan Am spokeswoman.

“Unfortunately, it made the flights economically unfeasible to operate,” she said.

Tickets to Israel will be honored by El Al, while ticket holders for Riyadh flights will be accommodated by other airlines.

Hanlon said Pan Am, which receives its insurance coverage from Lloyd’s of London, is working with the U.S. State Department and Department of Transportation to arrange for government-provided war risk insurance.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said petitions for the insurance, which is provided at a low cost, had been submitted by both Pan Am and Trans World Airlines, which also was hit by the insurance rate increase.

Government-provided insurance has been available since the Korean War and was used most recently for commercial and cargo planes ferrying troops and supplies to Saudi Arabia, said FAA spokesman Fred Farrar.

OPTIONAL EARLY EXAMS

Meanwhile, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has close to 1,500 foreign students studying there this term, has arranged an optional early exam period under pressure from parents.

Exams for overseas students were originally scheduled for the end of January. While that remains, students now have the option of taking exams Jan. 8-10, with a take-home test due at the start of the second semester in late February.

“Some schools were very concerned about the situation in the Gulf, and they put pressure on the students and their parents, who put pressure on the university,” said Lawrence Besserman, director of the academic affairs office in New York for Hebrew University.

Besserman added that university officials believe students are not in any more danger than they were in a few months ago.