First, Muscat is hardly new. Second, it's in Oman, not Yemen, which by my understanding is one of the safest countries in the middle east. It is an ex-British holding, and from what I hear, still loyal. Certainly one of the first in the small arab coalition to speak out against Iraq (along with UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and a few others), a key player in the 1991 campaign, and a good supporter this time around. Finally, BA shut this route down when they made their first round of middle east cuts. It was LHR-AUH-MCT, and changed to LHR-LCA-AUH-KWI, which was cut today or yesterday in the second round.

[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 03-19-2003).]