AIR CORRIDORS OVER CROATIA TO START RE-OPENING ON JANUARY 27

ZAGREB, Jan 19 (Hina) - The normalisation of air traffic and the opening of air corridors over south-east Europe, which have been closed since 1991, will start on January 27, 2000, when an agreement of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is to go into force, an assistant minister and head of the Civil Aviation Management, Zvonimir Vedris, told reporters at the Ministry of Traffic, Maritime Affairs, and Communications on Wednesday. #L# Normalising air traffic over south-east European countries, which was discontinued in 1991 due to the war in Croatia, and later in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Kosovo crisis, will reduce air traffic in Europe, which is especially heavy from May onward. Also, routes from central and western Europe toward the Near and Far East will be shortened, Vedris said. The Ministry believes that with the agreement's going into force, the number of overflights in Croatia will increase. The normalisation of air traffic will help all participants in traffic in Europe and the world because the shortest natural routes from western Europe to the Near and Far East and Africa are being re- opened, Vedris said. The acting head of the Croatian Flight Control, Drazen Ramljak, said the number of overflights in the beginning would by no means reach the pre-war figures. However, given that air traffic in Europe is very heavy during the main season, the Flight Control believes the number of overflights will increase with time. According to Ramljak, there were 87,362 overflights in Croatia in 1999; the number of overflights in 1998 was 122,220 and in 1997 94,582. (hina) rml