Cathay cancels four flights from Hong Kong to US, Canada
( 2001-09-13 11:24 ) (7 )

Hong Kong's dominant carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will cancel four flights to the United States and Canada on Thursday in the wake of deadly attacks on landmarks in New York and Washington.

Two of the flights are to Canada, one to Los Angeles and another to New York via Vancouver, said the carrier.

The status of two other flights to the United States, which began to clear some of its airlines for limited service on Wednesday, has yet to be determined. All are passenger flights.

Cathay and other Asian airlines suspended or diverted hundreds of flights to the United States and some other destinations on Tuesday following the attacks.

The United States shut its airspace after knife-wielding hijackers seized four commercial airliners, two of which smashed into New York's landmark World Trade Centre towers. A third hit the Pentagon and a fourth plane crashed into the ground in western Pennsylvania.

Canada, which accepted hundreds of diverted flights from the US, closed its packed airports on Wednesday.

It reopened its airspace later that day but warned of delays as it clears a massive backlog of passengers amid tight security.

US transportation authorities said on Wednesday that commercial and cargo aircraft diverted from their normal flight paths to other airports during the emergency could proceed to their final destinations as soon as airlines and airports met tougher security standards.

The US consulate in Hong Kong, which remained closed on Wednesday for security reasons, reopened on Thursday.