Beijing to close airport during Games opening ceremony

By Ian Ransom

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing will restrict aircraft landing and taking off during the Olympic Games opening ceremony on August 8, airline officials said on Thursday, forcing the rescheduling of dozens of flights due to security concerns.

Domestic media reports quoted unnamed aviation sources as saying that Beijing Capital Airport would be closed to all "non-Olympic" traffic between 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) and midnight on the evening of the opening ceremony.

A spokesperson from Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) confirmed the reports, and said the airline had rescheduled a Beijing-bound flight from Hong Kong to allow for the shut-down.

"Due to the closure of Beijing Capital Airport on the evening of August 8, Cathay Pacific flight CX312 will be rescheduled to 9:45 p.m, a delay of five hours," spokeswoman Maria Yu said by telephone.

"The notice came from the Beijing airport authority," Yu said, without elaborating.

Cathay's sister airline Dragonair had also been forced to cancel six flights and reschedule another, the Hong Kong-based airline said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Officials contacted at Beijing Capital Airport and China's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said they unaware of the order or unable to comment.

Aircraft are already banned from overflying Beijing, though authorities are taking no chances and have placed anti-aircraft missiles near the main Olympic stadium, the "Bird's Nest."