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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:44 p.m., Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Bloomberg: Mumbai airport operating normally after attacks

 •  101 killed in India attacks; Americans targeted

By Vipin V. Nair
Bloomberg News

Mumbai International Airport Ltd., operator of India's busiest airfield, is functioning normally after terrorist attacks in the city's hotels last night killed 80 people in the country's first terrorist attack targeting foreigners.

"The situation is normal now, flights are operating normally," airport spokesman Manish Khalghatghi said in a phone interview today. "It's a dynamic situation. Airport security has been increased. Some flights were either canceled or delayed because crew and passengers couldn't make it on time."

At least 240 people were injured in India's financial hub of Mumbai as gunmen armed with rifles and grenades raided five- star hotels. Fire spread through the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, where terrorists were holding as many as 15 people hostage, the Press Trust of India reported.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air France-KLM and Northwest Airlines Corp. all canceled a flight each last night, Khalghatghi said. Singapore Airlines Ltd., Asia's most profitable airline, said it is operating flights as normal to India.

"Security in and around the international airport has been tightened," spokesman Stephen Forshaw said in an e-mail reply to Bloomberg queries. "We noticed higher-than-normal no-shows on this morning's flight, which is quite understandable as people seek to become clear on what's going on."