CONFIDENTIAL
HKK 1846
RACEIVED
PERLY NO. 51
10 APR 1980
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
RECORD OF A CALL ON MR BLAKER, MINISTER OF STATE, BY MR JOHN SWIRE (CHAIRMAN) AND MR ADRIAN SWIRE (VICE-CHATRMAN ) OF JOHN SWIRE & SONS LIMITED ON 3 APRIL 1980
Present:
Mr P Blaker MP
Mr Murray
Mr Clift
Mr John Swire
Mr Adrian Swire
So
Mr Hamilton
1. Mr John Swire said that they had called to discuss the recent décision of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) not to license Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA) on the London/Hong Kong route. They understood that Mr Blaker could not comment on the case because of the position of the Secretary of State for Trade who would be hearing an appeal on the subject. Neverthe- less he wished to make Swires' views fully know and also to discuss the question from the wider angle of Hong Kong interests, partly from the point of view of the Hong Kong Association. Mr Adrian Swire would outline the case in more detail from the point of view of CPA.
2. Mr Adrian Swire emphasised that in coming to see Mr Blaker they were not in any way trying to exert influence on the Secretary of State for Trade in his consideration of the appeal.
3. Mr Blaker said that given the circumstances he would not be able to comment but was ready to listen. He suggested that nothing should be said to the Press about the present meeting but, if any- thing did get out, that it should simply be confirmed that the Swire Brothers had called in order to explain their point of view. Mr John Swire agreed.
4. Mr John Swire said that from the general political angle, feeling in Hong Kong was very strong. There had been extensive criticism of the CAA decision notably in EXCO and in the Press. He believed that this slap in the face could make for serious difficulties for UK/Hong Kong trade. Relevant to this was the fact that CPA had made their decision to purchase aircraft with Rolls-Royce engines under strong pressure from the British Government.
5. Mr Adrian Swire said that Hong Kong businessmen felt that they had been brainwashed to buy British and the CAA decision was bound to make them doubt whether they were wise to do so. Technically CPA believed that the CAA decision was a thoroughly bad one. They had made this clear in their appeal. They believed that some evidence had been ignored, notably that traffic over the route was not even but subject to peaks particularly at weekends and on Wednesdays. Therefore the CAA were wrong in
CONFIDENTIAL
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