Reagan National to Let Private Flights Resume

Private flights carrying politicians, business executives and others will be allowed to return to Reagan National Airport by the end of the summer under a plan announced Wednesday by federal officials.

Citing national security, the federal government had banned the small planes from the airport -- which is just across the Potomac River from downtown Washington -- since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

To access National under the new rules, crews and passengers will undergo background checks, all bags will be screened, armed security guards paid for by the fliers must be on board, flights can come only from 12 designated airports, and passenger and crew lists must be submitted 24 hours in advance.

Federal officials said 48 flights would be allowed per day, fewer than half the approximately 100 general aviation flights that shuttled in and out of National daily before the terrorist attacks.

The announcement culminates nearly four years of lobbying by local, state and federal officials, who had argued that the security restrictions were unnecessary and harmed businesses. At a news conference, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said the shutdown has cost the region $177 million.

Davis and several others who had pushed for the change said Wednesday that the plan, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, was more than welcome, but that the restrictions were overzealous.