WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has intelligence that the al Qaeda network may be targeting five or six U.S.-bound flights from Europe, including three canceled by British Airways on Saturday, a U.S. official said.
"There are a handful of flights we are concerned about and British Airways has canceled about half of them," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The U.S.-bound flights in question all originated in Europe, he said. U.S. security officials alerted the airlines and governments involved and it was up to them whether to cancel the flights or step up in-flight security, he said.
After he spoke, Air France canceled two Paris-Washington flights.
In the latest cancellations during a jittery period for the global airline industry since before Christmas, British Airways said it had called off flight BA223 to Washington on Sunday and Monday. Sunday's BA 207 flight to Miami was also canceled.
Intelligence information raising fears of a new Sept. 11-style attack led to the cancellation of several international BA flights last month at the request of the U.S. authorities.
"We have received threat reporting that indicates al Qaeda's desire to target these particular flights," the U.S. official said in Washington.
The al Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden is blamed by Washington for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people.
((Reporting by Doina Chiacu, editing by Peter Millership, Americas Desk 202-789-8015)