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CNN Live Today

Sunday Flight From London to D.C. Canceled

Aired February 12, 2004 - 10:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go ahead and start this hour with a threat to air travel. British Airways today abruptly canceled two upcoming flights out of London. Our senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is in London with the details. Walter, hello.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. British Airways apologized to over 300 would be passengers, but the British government has recommended that two specific flights be canceled. That means 300 BA passengers scheduled to fly this weekend and early next week are now scrambling.

The flights as we were told are BA Flight 223. That is to say London Heathrow Airport to Washington's Dulles Airport Sunday afternoon. Leaves London about midday. There were 184 passengers on that flight who now have to look for other routes, other accommodations. And some of them obviously will be looking for refunds.

That flight has been a troubled flight. It has been canceled or delayed eight times since New Year's Eve. And it's believed that this most recent threat against BA 223 is connected to a threat which was also extant on February 2 of this year.

The other flight which has been canceled is British Airways Flight 263 London Heathrow to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Again, there are about 149 passengers on that flight booked for next Monday who now have to look for other means of getting to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and their connections there.

Again, the British are not being very specific about the nature of the threat, but it is specific because the flights are specific here. That is, we know the precise flights which concerns exist toward.

And one thing we should add perhaps by way of footnote is the U.S. government's worst fear has always been that a foreign carrier, an international air carrier other than an American air carrier, might be used for an attack on an American city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: It seems like that Flight 223 keeps coming up over and over again, Walter.

RODGERS: That's true. And it has to be taken as credible. That is to say, both the British and the Americans take this threat as credible. We can't tell you more than that but there is a certain amount we can deduce for it. Look, it was the United States and Britain who led the war against Iraq. And it was the United States and Britain who are now being most vilified in the Muslim -- in the militant Muslim corners of the world.

So, it is Britain and the United States who could be seen by the terrorists, whoever they happen to be, who should be most punished in the eyes of the terrorists -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Walter Rodgers with the latest on the canceled flights. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 12, 2004 - 10:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go ahead and start this hour with a threat to air travel. British Airways today abruptly canceled two upcoming flights out of London. Our senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is in London with the details. Walter, hello.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. British Airways apologized to over 300 would be passengers, but the British government has recommended that two specific flights be canceled. That means 300 BA passengers scheduled to fly this weekend and early next week are now scrambling.

The flights as we were told are BA Flight 223. That is to say London Heathrow Airport to Washington's Dulles Airport Sunday afternoon. Leaves London about midday. There were 184 passengers on that flight who now have to look for other routes, other accommodations. And some of them obviously will be looking for refunds.

That flight has been a troubled flight. It has been canceled or delayed eight times since New Year's Eve. And it's believed that this most recent threat against BA 223 is connected to a threat which was also extant on February 2 of this year.

The other flight which has been canceled is British Airways Flight 263 London Heathrow to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Again, there are about 149 passengers on that flight booked for next Monday who now have to look for other means of getting to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and their connections there.

Again, the British are not being very specific about the nature of the threat, but it is specific because the flights are specific here. That is, we know the precise flights which concerns exist toward.

And one thing we should add perhaps by way of footnote is the U.S. government's worst fear has always been that a foreign carrier, an international air carrier other than an American air carrier, might be used for an attack on an American city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: It seems like that Flight 223 keeps coming up over and over again, Walter.

RODGERS: That's true. And it has to be taken as credible. That is to say, both the British and the Americans take this threat as credible. We can't tell you more than that but there is a certain amount we can deduce for it. Look, it was the United States and Britain who led the war against Iraq. And it was the United States and Britain who are now being most vilified in the Muslim -- in the militant Muslim corners of the world.

So, it is Britain and the United States who could be seen by the terrorists, whoever they happen to be, who should be most punished in the eyes of the terrorists -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Walter Rodgers with the latest on the canceled flights. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com