GPS
1780
(CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL,
DESKBY FCO 091200Z FEB
DESKBY SINGAPORE JAK ART A MANILA
HKR184/1
CANBERRA WELLINGTON-
BCARFE HONG KONG AND GOV HONG KONG 0910002 FEDA
DESKBY BANGKOK 120130Z FEB
FM KUALA LUMPUR 0908302 FEB 79
1 No Jin J
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELEGRAM NUMBER 91 OF 9 FEBRUARY
Ser (124)
INFO IMMEDIATE SINGAPORE BANGKOK JAKARTA MANILA CANBERRA
WELLINGTON GOV AND BACARFE HONG KONG
MY TEL NO 87 : UK/MALAYSIA AIR SERVICES TALKS
1. PROGRESS WAS MAINTAINED ON THE THIRD DAY AND ON THE MORNING OF THE FOURTH DAY OF THE DISCUSSIONS HERE ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SIGNS THAT THIS WAS NOT AS FAST AS THE MALAYSIANS HAD HOPED. THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OF THE FOURTH DAY WERE TAKEN UP IN A FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO AGREE A SUMMARY RECORD (SEE BELOW)
2. ON 7 FEBRUARY, ATTENTION WAS GIVEN IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO THE ROUTE BETWEEN E MALAYSIA AND HONG KONG. ALTHOUGH THE TRAFFIC STATISTICS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ROUTE WAS NORE THAN ADEQUATELY SUPPLIED WITH CAPACITY AT THE PRESENT TIME, HAMZAH CONTENDED THAT MAS SHOULD HAVE PARITY OF ENTITLEMENT WITH CPA ( IE 4 X B707 PER WEEK) AND THAT MAS SHOULD THEREFORE BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE 2 X A300 PER WEEK. ROGERS POINTED OUT THAT THIS WOULD RESULT IN RIDICULOUSLY LOW LOAD FACTORS AND OPERATING LOSSES. HAMZAH WAS EVIDENTLY EMBARRASSED AND DID NOT PRESS THE MAS CASE. HE SEEMED CONTENT WITH THE ASSURANCE BY MILES (MANAGING DIRECTOR OF . CATHAY PACIFIC) THAT CPA HAD NO INTENTION OF MOUNTING THE TWO ADDITIONAL 3707 FREQUENCIES TO WHICH THEY WERE ENTITLED BUT WHICH THEY WERE HOLDING IN ABEYANCE.
3. REFERRING BACK TO THE PREVIOUS EVENING'S DISCUSSION ABOUT
CAPACITY BETWEEN KUALA LUMPUR AND HONG KONG, ROGERS SAID THAT AFTER FURTHER EXAMINATION OF ALL THE FIGURES AND ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT MAS'S TRAFFIC BETWEEN KUALA LUMPU AND TOKYO WOULD BE REDUCED BY THE MORE COMPETITIVE WHOLLY NON-STOP SERVICE BETWEEN BANGKOK AND TOKYO WHICH JAL PLANNED TO ESTABLISH THIS YEAR, OUR REVISED
CONFIDENTIAL
/ASSESSHANT