North Korea's planned rocket launch: Airlines re-route flights

Japanese and South Korean airlines are altering some flight paths to avoid possible falling rocket parts after North Korea said it planned to launch a satellite. Pyongyang told the International Maritime Organization Tuesday it intends to launch an Earth observation satellite between February 8 and 25, IMO spokeswoman Natasha Brown said. The planned launch overlaps with some flight routes connecting Japan with the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Based on coordinates provided by North Korea to the IMO, the first stage and fairing of the rocket will drop off in waters between South Korea and China. Its second stage is expected to fall into waters off the Philippines' northern coast. Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced Thursday changes in seven flight paths between Japan and Southeast Asian capitals during the announced launch window. These route changes will stretch flight times by five to ten minutes, according to the officials. "The move is to comfort customers who might worry about their flights in the region, given how North Korea's announcement to launch a satellite was so widely covered in the media," an airline spokesperson told CNN. South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also said that airlines would re-route 41 flights between February 8 and 25.<br/>