Brussels terror attacks impact transportation

With the Brussels International Airport closed until at least Thursday, travelers and freight shippers are being temporarily diverted to other airports and will face extra security checks at airports and rail stations around the world.    Brussels International Airport will be closed at least through Thursday following yesterday’s terrorist attacks there, and at a city subway station, that killed 34 people and injured about 250 more.
   The shutdown is delaying air cargo shipments scheduled to transit through the airport, and forcing travelers and shippers to reroute through other airports.
   Meanwhile, airport security officials were on a heightened state of alert around the world, and security has also been tightened at rail stations in Europe and the United States.
   The French government ordered 1,600 extra police officers to patrol the nation’s borders, including train stations, airports, and ports, the N.Y. Times reported.
   The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), along with the Secretary General of the United Nations, issued a statement today condemning the bombings and offering condolences to the victims.
   “These attacks were an affront to peace and liberty,” ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said. “The civil aviation community remains determined to keep our global network and its billions of passengers safe from terrorist threats, and we are deeply saddened today in the aftermath of these cowardly assaults against innocent civilians and travelers. Our hearts and sympathies today are with the victims and their families and the people of Belgium.”
   “Our agency deeply regrets that civil aviation operations and facilities continue to be considered as valid targets by terrorist groups worldwide,” added ICAO Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu. “While the devices at Zaventem airport were detonated in public, landside airport areas which are not protected by civil aviation screening standards and related procedures, threats to international passengers at any stage in their journey are of tremendous concern to ICAO and the entire air transport community.”
   “Effective, sustainable security in public spaces poses complex challenges,” said President Aliu. “Aviation confronts these with close cooperation and monitoring, data sharing and risk analysis, and perhaps most importantly by sustaining a culture of constant vigilance in the face of evolving threats. Our network brings peoples and cultures together today on over 100,000 daily flights, and terrorist acts of this nature must not be permitted to threaten aviation’s ability to connect the world and its peoples.”