(London-Hong Kong)
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a medium-term and long-term licy on the basis of short-term If we are frightened for the shall never have the right avia-
gor MacKenzie: Is the Secre- ate aware that by effectively nding the decision taken by the has succeeded in pleasing no be the three airlines concerned operate viably on this route? I g the Secretary of State's geo- rror when he talked of taking rain to Edinburgh. It is a pity take a sleeper train to Glasgow the effect on the employment of the people who work for edonian in the Strathclyde area, ady suffers from exceptionally ployment. We hoped that that r he would take into considera- ll regret that he seems to have completely.
t: I do not think that this ch I was deciding was, by its one in which I would please I certainly accept that this appeal will not please all the rators, but I believe it will ase future airline passengers.
under the Act is to weigh the f the airline passenger with he airline operator. On the ubmitted on the appeal— el costs have of course risen -we are talking about extreme- e fares at the lower end of the
instructing the airlines how s to fly; I am not telling them ency they should have. British
w have seven flights to Hong k. I am not saying how many sh Caledonian or Laker or ific should fly. That is up They must make their own hoices. I believe that this route up a large untapped market of ravellers. That is why it is t is the only cabotage route, ernational route, on which we and are able to make a de- believe that there are great this route over the long term. it the CAA took too short
in this case.
er: Does my right hon. Friend affic developing here from the
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Air Services
17 JUNE 1980
(London-Hong Kong) Several Hon. Members rose-
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whole of the Far East area which could be to the interests of all the operators on Is the practica! this cabotage route? consequence of his decision that both British Caledonian and Cathay Pacific can operate immediately, whereas Laker, in practical terms, must obtain the approval of the Hong Kong Government?
Are there any implications here for the future? Is there any possibility of its leading perhaps to more competition on routes nearer home on which the fares are even more outrageous than those on the sleeper route to Glasgow?
Mr. Nott: I think I had better leave other routes alone for the present. Sixth freedom carriers are fairly numerous on this route Swissair, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Singapore Airlines, Malay- sian Airlines, Thai International and Air India.
I believe that there is scope--I cannot say how great it is-in attracting business to British airlines on the Hong Kong- London route. I want British airlines to compete as effectively as possible with other foreign airlines. That is the whole basis upon which I am instructed under the Act to pursue the policy.
I cannot tell how much diversion there will be, but I believe that there should be a considerable amount as a result of this decision.
Mr. David Steel: Has not the Secre- tary of State admitted in both his state- ments and his replies to questions that he has, in effect, overruled the CAA by bringing his political view of the develop- ment of aviation to bear on exactly the same evidence? If so, is he not directly intervening ministerially in the decisions. of a statutory body and therefore vir- tually setting aside its role? What is its role to be in future licensing?
Mr. Nott: I have not taken a political view in any way. I deny that suggestion completely. I have looked at the evidence which was presented to the CAA on the applications. I have looked at the appeal papers and I have made a judgment about this route based on the evidence that was given to the CAA. It was not a political decision. In this case, under the 1971 Act, I acted in an appeal capacity, in a quasi-judicial capacity, and it was solely in that capacity that I took this decision.
Mr. Speaker: I propose to call four more hon. Members on either side, which I think will give a good run.
Mr. Tapsell: Is my right hon. Friend aware that, whether or not events prove that there is room for three new airlines on this route, there will be much satis- faction at his decision to overrule the CAA and that if he had sustained his decision to exclude Cathay Pacific from the route there would have been deep resentment in Hong Kong-one of our best potential export markets—where there has been a feeling of resentment over many years that air traffic rights in Hong Kong have been used by Britain to the disadvantage of Hong Kong as a form of what I have heard described as old- fashioned colonialist exploitation "? Should not that last point weigh with the Opposition?
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Mr. Knott: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. Of course, I was asked by the Government of Hong Kong, given that that was their view, to make a political direction under section 4 of the Act. I rejected that applica- tion in favour of a decision under section 3 of the Act, because there is a large market here which all four airlines, over a period, can make economic if they go out and really sell their business to the general public at what will be a wider choice of, and at lower, fares. What my hon. Friend said about the feelings in Hong Kong is true.
Mr. Harry Ewing: Is the Secretary of State aware that his decision appears to be based on no more than the report that Freddie Laker said that there were more passengers available?
Is the Secretary of State aware that the Scottish council for development in industry, as well as British Caledonian Airways, says that the right hon. Gentle- man's decision will cost a substantial number of jobs in the Prestwick area? The Secretary of State for Scotland claimed that his personal intervention on another aircaft matter caused the creation of jobs. In this instance, is it
the case that the Secretary of State either did not intervene, or intervened and was merely brushed aside by the Secretary of State for Trade?
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