Commercial flights into Somalia's main airport, Mogadishu International, were canceled on Wednesday after Islamic insurgents vowed to shoot down planes and attack airline personnel.
After the terrorist attacks, airlines began to install reinforced doors.
Since the attacks, airlines have eliminated jobs and flights to cut costs and reduced fares to try to increase sales.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, airlines and airports have taken extraordinary measures to toughen security, including the latest proposal -- giving firearms to pilots.
Though leisure travel has largely bounced back from the September 2001 attacks, airlines fear that any level of uncertainty could cause people to put off trips until they feel more comfortable about flying.
Since the attacks, airlines and the Boeing Company, the leading aircraft builder, have announced layoffs of almost 100,000, and industry officials have said that at least three carriers might face bankruptcy if the help was not forthcoming.
Under procedures put in place by the Bush administration since the Sept. 11 attacks, airline passenger records are forwarded within minutes of a flight's departure to a Homeland Security Department offices in northern Virginia, where they are matched against terrorist watch lists and scanned for other information that might suggest a terrorist or criminal is on board.
But before the Sept. 11 attacks, airline officials complained that such machinery was costly to maintain, and that training employees to operate the devices was also costly.
"Unlike previous animal rights campaigns, this attack against airlines and shipping companies has not been conducted in the public eye, but it has been no less damaging for the UK's global reputation," he added.
Within hours of the attack, diplomats, airlines and tour operators stepped in to provide bus transport from the stricken hotel and neighboring resorts to the nearest airport for flights out.
