Communications News: Air rage

Burmese political exiles joined supporters of the Burma Campaign UK near London's Trafalgar Square last week to protest against Austrian Airlines' direct service to the country, which is contracted to Lauda Air. Burma is ruled by a brutal military dictatorship, and the leader of its democracy movement, Aung San Su Kyi, who is under house arrest, has called on travellers to stay away because tourism is a vital source of income for the regime. The airline group has been targeted by the campaign since it began flying direct to Burma in 2002. It is the only European airline to do so, and supporters from 13 countries are backing the campaign against it. Campaigns officer Anna Roberts said: "Austrian Airlines have blood on their wings. They might as well be carrying in tanks and guns and bullets as that's what the regime will buy with the money they get from it."