North Korea opening its skies to international flights
     SEOUL - April 23, 1998 10:55 p.m. EDT - North Korea reported the
 opening of its heavily-guarded skies to international skies for the
 first time since the division of the Korean peninsula in 1945.
    "Regular international air services through the Korean territorial
 air have begun in the wake of the test flight in early March," a
 North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by a
 North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) report released late
 Thursday.
     "The flights through the Korean airspace make air services of
 many countries more convenient and give them tangible economic bene-
 fits and we can make a great contribution to the development of the
 aerial transport in the world," the spokesman told KCNA.
     "Now the world welcomes the start of international air services
 through the Korean territorial air and an increasing number of
 countries hope for flights through the airspace," it said.
     Three commercial flights flew over the North Korean skies for the
 first time Thursday following test flights in March after Pyongyang
 and Seoul reached a landmark agreement in Bangkok last October under
 the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
     With the opening of North Korea's skies and unrestricted use of
 the "Kamchatka route" over Russia, airlines can shave between 20 and
 50 minutes off their flight times on their Seoul-United States routes.
     Aviation officials said the time saved would translate into mil-
 lions of dollars less in fuel costs, adding cash-strapped North Korea
 could earn control tower service fees of about four million dollars.
     South and North Korea are still technically at war as the 1950-53
 Korean War ended in an armistice without the signing of a peace
 treaty.
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     Prosecutors arrest four in bribery case involving KAL crash
     SEOUL, South Korea - April 23, 1998 8:07 p.m. EDT -- Prosecutors
 arrested four people Thursday for allegedly paying bribes to some
 relatives of the 228 victims of a Korean Air jetliner crash in Guam
 last year.
     Shim Lee-taek, vice president of Korean Air, gave three family
 members $167,000 in October in exchange for their help in smoothing
 funeral proceedings and compensation talks with the airline,
 prosecutors said.
     The three relatives were also arrested. They belonged to a com-
 mittee that represented the bereaved families in the complicated,
 emotion-charged compensation negotiations.
     The prosecution's probe was a new twist in the settlement of the
 crash of KAL Flight 801, which slammed into a Guam hillside last
 Aug. 6. Only 26 people aboard the Boeing 747 survived.
     On Thursday, Korean Air denied bribery. It said it gave the money
 to help the victims' families move to a new mourning station. The
 airline first rented a gymnasium as a mourning station for the be-
 reaved families but later asked them to move.
     "The money has nothing to do with compensation negotiations," KAL
 said in a statement.
     Negotiations with families began in December. Since then, Korean
 Air has paid $167,000 for 70 victims. Settlements with the others
 are still pending.
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           Military plane crashes in Brazil killing three
     RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - April 23, 1998 7:55 p.m. EDT -- A
 Brazilian air force jet crashed Thursday in southern Rio de Janeiro
 state, killing all three crew members, military officials said.
     The plane, a Bandeirante 595-B, had flown soldiers on a parachute
 training mission and was returning to the airport when the plane hit
 high tension wires and crashed into a field some 100 miles southwest
 of the capital.
     All eight parachutists had jumped from the plane before the
 crash, the three crew members who remained aboard were killed.
     An air force official who declined to be identified said the
 incident was under investigation.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 Former airline employee admits stealing 100,000 pieces of mail
 looking for cash
     ATLANTA - April 23, 1998 11:13 p.m. EDT -- A former airline
 worker pleaded guilty Thursday to opening as many as 100,000 greet-
 ing cards and stealing cash inside. Thomas Lamonde, 40, an employee
 of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, admitted that for nearly three years
 he stole the mail in the hope of finding cash.
     Lamonde's lawyer said he took the money to play the Georgia
 lottery, hoping to pay expenses for two disabled children.
     Exactly how much money Lamonde got is unknown. Officials said a
 conservative estimate was about $500,000.
     Lamonde was caught when postal inspectors found a storage locker
 stuffed with checks and money orders.
     Lamonde faces up to five years in federal prison when he is
 sentenced July 15.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------- AirTran 
cancels flights - Nonstops to New York's LaGuardia end May 31
     After offering nonstop jet service from Knoxville to New York for
 only four months, AirTran Airlines said Thursday it is canceling all
 daily flights between McGhee Tyson and LaGuardia airports effective
 May 31.
     "Despite the efforts of AirTran, the Metropolitan Knoxville Air-
 port Authority and the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, passenger de-
 mand for the New York service did not respond sufficiently to justify
 the continuation of the nonstop flights," said Ponder Harrison,
 AirTran senior vice president of sales and marketing.
 ===
--- DB 1.39/004487
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