CONFIDENTIAL
VISIT OF THE CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER TO HONG KONG
September 1972
TRAFFIC RIGHTS AT HONG KONG FOR SCANDINAVIAN AIR SERVICES (SAS)
1. The Scandinavians have recently revived their request for
traffic rights for SAS at Hong Kong.
2. The Governor has urged us to accept the request for the
sake of Hong Kong's commercial interests. The Scandinavian
countries are important trading partners of Hong Kong: they
have made much of their lack of traffic rights in Hong Kong
in recent trade negotiations with the Colony and against the
background of a decline in the rate of growth of Hong Kong's
exports the Hong Kong Government are particularly anxious to
foster the Scandinavian market. Representations in the same
sense were made by unofficial members of the Legislative and
Executive Councils to the Secretary of State when he visited
Hong Kong last February,
3. The Secretary of State put Hong Kong's case to Mr John
Davies at the end of May. Mr Davies replied regretting that
he was unable to give away rights at Hong Kong in the absence
of any benefits the Scandinavians could offer us in exchange.
He felt that such a concession would weaken the bargaining
position of the UK Government in negotiations over traffic
rights generally.
4.
Hong Kong argue that we granted KLM traffic rights at
Kai Tak to further UK interests. We should now, they say,
CONF IDENT IAL
/grant