Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 15, 1994 TAG: 9403150218
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON LENGTH: Medium
But bombs in airports frighten people, and executives are closely watching a situation that could dent Britain's $15 billion a year tourism industry - a frequent target of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.
``Britain's generally perceived as a safe place to visit,'' said Sandie Dawe, spokeswoman for the British Tourist Authority. ``You just don't know if it's going to have an impact.''
Airlines say people haven't canceled flights yet, but privately acknowledge vacationers might start looking to other destinations. No one has been harmed in the attacks on Heathrow Airport, but some people are clearly nervous.
``Does it worry me? Of course it does,'' said Frederick Jones, a London-based consultant to the welding industry who flies out of Heathrow nearly every week on business.
More mortars went off at Heathrow on Sunday morning - the third such attack in five days - and in the evening both Heathrow and London's Gatwick Airport were closed for two hours after bomb warnings that apparently were false.
By the end of the day, British Airways had canceled 57 of 70 scheduled flights out of Heathrow, including flights into New York, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles. Disruptions at Gatwick were less severe, but British Airways estimated 13,000 passengers were inconvenienced. London-bound planes were diverted all over England.
Britons survived heavy air raids by Germans during World War II, and they live with a constant threat of bombs placed in train stations as part of the IRA's violent campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. Many Londoners take a stoic view of the bombings, worrying mainly about delays to their travel schedule.
But foreign tourists can easily make plans to visit other places if they're afraid of possible attacks.
Col. Andrew Duncan, a military expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, noted Athens' airport became known as the world's most dangerous following terrorist attacks in the 1980s. Tourist traffic dropped immediately.
The IRA has emphasized attacks on Britain's economy, detonating two big bombs in London's financial district in the past two years.
Tourism also is a frequent target for IRA teams that have attacked pubs, hotels, Harrods department store and the London Dungeon attraction near Tower Bridge.
After bombing a recreational pier in the southern English coastal town of Bournemouth last August, the IRA said ``the importance of resorts to the British economy means that they will remain priority targets.''
by CNB