BOSNIA: SARAJEVO AIRPORT REOPENS

(4 Jan 1995) Natural Sound Transport planes carrying vital aid to the besieged citizens of Sarajevo have been landing after the airport was reopened Tuesday. The runway had been blocked since New Year’s Day after an Ilyushin transport plane skidded off the end of the runway. The first transport planes started landing in the early morning, taking advantage of the good flying conditions. Most of the planes were UNHCR flights bringing in vital food supplies. Eighty percent of Sarajevo’s food is supplied through the airlift and the closing of the airport always raises fears of shortages, especially during winter. The most recent closure was not caused by Bosnian Serb shelling as is usually the case, but by a Belarussian Ilyushin transport plane that skidded off the tarmac on New Year’s Day, blocking the runway. It took the U-N two days of intense work with heavy machinery to move the plane which had got stuck in thick mud. As the planes landed, t