Air India said it had laid on three extra flights to carry Indian nationals from Kuwait, set to become the launchpad of the invasion of Iraq.

"This airlifting is not an evacuation as the passengers have bought the tickets," said company spokesman Jitendra Bhargav. "But we are monitoring the Iraq crisis and evacuation will start on government directive as and when the situation demands."

Air India and Indian Airlines, the country's domestic carrier, can move up to 3,500 people from the region daily and expect up to 50,000 Indians to be flown out by the end of the week.

During the 1991 Gulf war, Air India evacuated 111,000 Indians in 57 days in the largest civilian airlift since World War II.

Kuwait Airways announced it would indefinitely stop flights to Beirut, Damascus and Amman as of Sunday. It also said if Kuwait airport were to close down, it would operate out of both Sharjah and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Jordan's national carrier Royal Jordanian (RJ) became the latest airline to cancel flights to Baghdad. "There will be no flights to Baghdad either on Thursday or on Friday," a company source said.

Aviation specialists in Amman said Jordanian airspace will be closed as soon as war gets underway. The entire RJ fleet will operate out of Athens.

On Tuesday, two Syrian carriers stopped flights from Damascus to Baghdad.

EgyptAir laid on six extra flights to bring home 1,600 Egyptians from Kuwait and will set up an air bridge between the Jordanian capital, Amman, and Cairo to repatriate Egyptians fleeing Iraq. Some 65,000 Egyptians are currently in Iraq.

Egypt's flag carrier has also cancelled 18 flights because of a sharp drop in passengers, mainly tourists, and announced that many routes will be regrouped to cut costs due to lower passenger occupancy and rising fuel and insurance bills.

An aviation source said many companies have reduced their flights to and from Cairo, including Air France, Swiss, Spain's Iberia and Korean Airlines.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said Egypt had agreed to let its planes use its airspace for its flights between Beirut and the Gulf states, allowing them to avoid Jordanian airspace.

CNN has reported that US cruise missiles and fighter planes heading for Iraq from the Mediterranean would follow Israel's southern border before flying over Jordan.

But aviation authorities in Qatar, from where the United States may direct an attack on Iraq, gave assurances its international airport, as well as the emirate's air space would remain open during any conflict in the region.

Qatar Airways said the airline had for some time been coordinating the use of air corridors over Qatar with the US military.

Thailand's Thai Airways said it will suspend from Thursday its routes to Kuwait and Bahrain, two of the five of its destinations in the Middle East.

Cyprus Airways stopped all flights to the Gulf, specifically to Bahrain, Riyadh, Dubai and Jeddah, at least until Sunday.

Sri Lanka's flag-carrier, SriLankan Airlines, also said it would reroute flights in case of a war to avoid Middle Eastern skies.

British Airways announced Tuesday the suspension of its services to Israel and Kuwait.

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