
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991                   TAG: 9102130549
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

BRITISH AIRWAYS TICKET CUT REJECTED BY SKINNER

U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner has taken British Airways out of the burgeoning trans-Atlantic air-fare war by refusing to approve the carrier's 33 percent discount on U.S.-British flights.

The U.S. Transportation Department announced Tuesday that Skinner was rejecting the decrease in fares already announced by British Airways on Sunday. The earlier announcement had prompted several U.S.-based carriers to say they would cut round-trip fares between Britain and the United States by as much as 50 percent.

Negotiations toward a new British-U.S. aviation trade treaty broke down last month amid disagreements over the granting of Heathrow landing rights to other U.S.-based carriers.

British Airways said late Tuesday that discounted fares already sold would be honored. It was unclear Tuesday whether U.S. airlines would respond to Skinner's move.

by CNB