1
RE Downing Esq
Civil Aviation Department Now Rodney Block 99 Queensway
HONG KONG
Dir Pa
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE
SHELL MEX HOUSE STRAND
LONDON WC2R ODP
Telephone Direct Line 01-217 4524
Swuchboard 01-217 3000
5 August 1977
ce HKOGD
Me Stabler & NyImply;
167/20 167/4.
RECEN
REGI
1 5 AUG 1977|
CARRIAGE OF CHARTER PASSENGERS ON SCHEDULED SERVICES BETWEEN
LONDON AND HONG KONG
I am sorry that I did not have an opportunity to see you during your recent spell of home leave. Indeed, I did not know that you
were here until after you had left!
I am conscious that it is now a full year since I was last in Hong Kong. Various topics have cropped up and opinions have been expressed which reminded me that this is too long. As you know, I usually try to get to Hong Kong once every six months: but for the last twelve months the juggernaut of our negotiations with the United States has rolled relentlessly on. My one consolation is that this is not likely to be repeated in the near future!
I was reminded how long it was since last we met and how overdue our periodical "tour d'horizon" by a point that cropped up in Bonn last week.
SUGA
In the course of a conversation about British Airways' services between London and Hong Kong, Norman Latham mentioned that you were seeking legal advice as to whether the carriage of charter passengers on those services (on a "part charter" basis) fell within your own authority. He explained that the relevance of this was that you had it in mind that at times of peak "scheduled" traffic (notably the ebb and flow of children at the beginning and end of the school holidays) you might prohibit British Airways from carrying charter traffic in order to make sure that there was sufficient room for the children of the expatriates in Hong Kong.
I have been conscious for some time that the carriage of this "part charter" traffic by British Airways gives rise to a certain
/amount