Egypt's national carrier EgyptAir has cut operations by 15 percent following the airborne suicide attacks in the United States, a senior company official said Monday, September 24. The reduction was announced following a meeting of the board of directors chaired by EgyptAir President Mohamed Fahim Rayyan, the official told Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency, MENA.
He did not say whether the 15 percent cutback represented the cancellation of flights to Pakistan and Yemen, announced Sunday because of security concerns, or whether other reductions had been made.
Meanwhile insurance companies have asked EgyptAir to pay ten times more for premiums, the official said, without mentioning whether the increase would be on all flights or only those to areas considered risky. He added EgyptAir was trying to obtain an exemption in exchange for a guarantee from the Egyptian government to the insurance firms.
Following the September 11 attacks, EgyptAir announced it would not go ahead with the purchase of two Boeing 777s, which were to have been delivered this month. The company had taken out a loan of $160 million to buy the two aircraft. ― (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
