Bush says holiday air space to be expanded

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday said the U.S. government will open up air space over the Midwest, Southwest and West Coast for holiday travel, similar to action taken last year when the military allowed civilian flights in its airspace to ease congestion over the East Coast.

"This year we're going to expand what we call the Thanksgiving express lanes to areas of the Midwest, the Southwest and the West Coast, including the skies over Phoenix and Los Angeles," Bush said.

Bush said he was issuing an executive order that would make modernizing the aviation system a leading priority for government agencies. "Modernizing our aviation system is an urgent challenge," he said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)