Fledgling Asian airlines unfazed by predicted financial turbulence
     MELBOURNE, Australia - November 12, 1997 12:00 p.m. EST (1700
 GMT) -- Fledgling Asian airlines on Wednesday said they did not
 fear the region's crowded aviation market despite analyst expec-
 tations of turbulent times ahead.
     Taiwan's Eva Air, South Korea's Asiana Airlines and Australia's
 Ansett International have been cited as the most vulnerable to an
 expected three-year airline slump in Asia.
     But all three airlines told Reuters on Wednesday that they were
 in strong shape.
     Eva Air's Australian general manager, Joe Huang, said the air-
 line was established during an air industry downturn in the late
 1980s and early 1990s.
     "We are very focused, positively, on our future expansion," he
 said in a statement.
     A Sydney-based aviation analyst on Tuesday cited the three air-
 lines as being most susceptible to difficulties, saying they were
 all relatively new carriers with major capital commitments.
     Huang's comments came after an Australian aviation consultant,
 the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), issued a report pre-
 dicting at least three Asian carriers were likely to have disappear-
 ed by 2000.
             Continued expansion for young airlines?
     Warren Seymour, managing director and co-owner of Australian
 regional airline National Jet Systems, said more than three
 carriers could be at risk.
     "I guess any airline that is not government-owned is potential-
 ly in jeopardy," Seymour told Reuters.
     Seymour said airlines in the region paid mainly U.S. dollars for
 new aircraft and parts, which placed "a huge financial burden" on
 carriers in Asian countries whose currencies have suffered recent
 sharp falls.
     Asiana Airlines, owned by conglomerate Kumho & Co Inc, also said
 it was not under financial pressure and that its earnings outlook
 was brightening.
     It said it was focusing on cutting costs, looking for more code-
 sharing arrangements and slowing expansion into new markets, but
 added its fleet expansion was unaffected.
     Asiana has 60 aircraft on order, the airline's Sydney-based
 spokeswoman, Lisa Hill, said.
     "For a very young airline, they are increasing their market
 share very quickly," Hill said.
     Ansett International, which made a loss in its last business
 year, said it was continuing to expand into Asia and was seeking
 (to) bolster its presence in both Hong Kong and Shanghai.
     Its general manager, Craig Wallace, said in a statement that its
 recently forged commercial alliance with Air New Zealand and Singa-
 pore Airlines also gave Ansett International a powerful springboard
 to become more competitive in Asia.
     "The airline is continuing to monitor the impact of recent Asian
 economic developments," Wallace said.
     Ansett International is owned 49 percent by Ansett Holdings Ltd
 which is in turn owned by Air New Zealand and media group News Corp.
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                 Israeli air raid near Beirut
     SIDON, Lebanon - November 12, 1997 11:23 a.m. - An Israeli plane
 staged a raid Wednesday on a hill south of Beirut where a radical
 Palestinian faction is based, security sources said. No casualties
 were inflicted.
     The Israeli fighter-bomber fired two missiles at Naameh hill,
 nine miles south of the Lebanese capital, they said.
     The raid was confirmed by an Israeli army spokesman in Jerusalem,
 who said the raid targeted "terrorist targets at Naame" and claimed
 that "all planes returned safely to their bases."
     The raid was the sixth Israeli air strike in less than a month
 on Naameh hill, where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Pales-
 tine-General Command of Ahmad Jibril has positions.
     One guerrilla has been killed and eight wounded in the series of
 eight Israeli raids since the beginning of the year against the
 group's bases in Lebanon.
     Jibril's group, which is based in Damascus and maintains links
 with Iran, opposes the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements.
     Analysts here have described the Israeli air attacks against the
 organization in Lebanon as "messages" from Israel to Syria, the main
 power broker in Lebanon with 35,000 troops.
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