R 460
PRIORITY
CYPHER CAT A
FM HONG KONG 0203252
CONFIDENTIAL
mawon
CONFIDENTIAL
RA
TO PRIORITY VIENTIANE TELNO 25 OF 2
INFO PRIORITY F C O, HANOI.
АКК 184
DECEMBER 1977
PA
/3.
(92)
FOR DO T.
AIR LAOS SPECIAL FLIGHTS.
1. WE HAVE RECENTLY HAD A NUMBER OF REQUESTS FOR NON-SCHEDULED FLIGHTS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND VIETNAM. WE HAVE ONLY GRANTED PERMISSION IN THE CASE OF OUR OWN REFUGEE FLIGHTS TO AND FROM HO CHI MINH CITY AND ONE OR TWO OTHER FLIGHTS, E.G. BY CARGOLUX OR MARTINAIR, WHO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SERVICING UN OR SWEDISH AID PROJECTS IN VIETNAM. ALL OF THESE FLIGHTS CAN BE JUSTIFIED AS EXCEPTIONS ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS. WE ALSO ALLOWED A SPECIAL PHILIPPINE FLIGHT CARRYING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF IATA TO HANOI FOR DISCUSSIONS ON OVERFLYING (REF MY TELNO 1063 TO FCO) AND TWO OTHER PHILIPPINE CHARTER FLIGHTS.
2. WHEN TURNING DOWN RECENT REQUESTS, WE HAVE USED THE ARGUMENT THAT, UNTIL PROPER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS ARE MADE, IT WOULD NOT BE SAFE TO ALLOW A FLOW OF TRAFFIC TO BUILD UP BETWEEN HONG KONG AND VIETNAM/LAOS. HOWEVER, A MAJOR REASON FOR TAKING THIS NEGATIVE VIEW IS THAT WE DO NOT WISH TO ALLOW DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ERODE THE PRESSURE ON THE VIETNAMESE AND LAOTIANS TO AGREE TO THE RESUMPTION OF OVERFLIGHTS. THIS IS NOT AN ARGUMENT WE CAN USE PUBLICLY. IN ORDER TO KEEP AT BAY THE REQUESTS FOR NON-SCHEDULED FLIGHTS, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THAT OUR POLICY IS ONLY TO ALLOW FLIGHTS IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS OVERRIDE AIR TRAFFIC DIFFICULTIES.
3. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN IN THIS CONTEXT WHY WE ARE ALLOWING AIR LAOS TO RUN OCCASIONAL NON-SCHEDULED FLIGHTS, PARTICULARLY SINCE THEIR STANDARD OF SAFETY IS LOWER THAN THAT OF
OTHER CARRIERS WHO ARE PRESSING US FOR CLEARANCE, E.G. JAL. IN FACT, WE HAVE HAD CONTINUING DIFFICULTY IN GETTING THE AIR LAOS
THE
CONFIDENTIAL
/FLIGHTS TO