Cable Briefs

Press, 29 November 1979, Page 8

Cable Briefs

Air-fare rise The new world airline fare increases from next January because of rising fuel costs have been forecast by an International Air Transport Association spokesman. The statement came at the end of the first day of I.A.T.A.’s thirty-fifth annual meeting, at which American attempts to bring totally open competition to the airline market were lambasted by several speakers, who urged multi-lateral co-operation as particularly important in the face of increasing oil prices and problems of its supply. An I.A.T.A. spokesman, David Kyd, told a press conference that a recent I.A.T.A. tariff meeting in Cannes, France, had already agreed a rise in fares would be necessary in January. But the rise might be even more if the December meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided on further oil-price rises, he said. — Manila. 'Fault rectified* The Pentagon said yesterday that it had discovered and corrected the cause of a false alarm that put part of the huge North American defence network into a “nuclear war” alert for six minutes on November 9. A Defence Department spokesman, Thomas Ross, said investigation of the incident, during which 12 jet fighters were scrambled from United States and Canadian bases when it was erroneously reported that a Russian missile was approaching, had been completed and the results reported to the White House and Congress. He said the cause of the accident had been discovered and acjtion taken “to make sure it can’t happen again.” — I Washington.