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e House who put the Govern- office should not complain if Will he deal with a practical e knows from experience that g has only one. international e have several.
Will he use ce to persuade the operators, the tour or leisure operators, ited Kingdom end of the route have to be only Gatwick or it should also be the Midlands, East or Scotland. That is where the leisure traffic lies.
: I very much agree with what entleman has said. Of course, e airline operators to use the ber of regional airports in he kind of traffic which I be- able for the Hong Kong route. n whether the traffic should gional points to Hong Kong, gional points via London to
is important. I agree with ntleman's general point that broad market in the United Of course, I should like to see rators attracting people from e United Kingdom with what r fares and a greater choice
er: Mr. Kenneth Warren.
n: It is so nice to have the
Mr. Speaker.
Does my Friend appreciate that I plaud his decision and trust that he will have the same titude towards forthcoming heaper air fares to Europe? him further? Bearing in
does not want to use the olitical direction, which he he say precisely what nego- with the Hong Kong Gov- make sure that Laker is erate out of Hong Kong?
I have not had any nego- e Hong Kong Government. ng licensing authority oper- ently of the Hong Kong I merely said in my state- Sir Freddie Laker decided I to reapply to the Hong authority, I should hope Kong Government would pplication-I cannot say t--and that they would up to Sir Freddie Laker to
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decide whether he wishes to reapply. Naturally I hope that he will, but the de- cision is for him.
Mr. Foulkes: Surely the Secretary of State appreciates that if British Cale- donian take two DC10s out of service it will pose an immediate threat to the future of Caledonian Airmotive, and the forgotten men and women at the bottom of the pile will not get jobs. They could not fly even to Luton, let alone Hong Kong. Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that the Secretary of State for Scotland has, once again been overruled and slapped in the face on this issue? Will he perhaps advise the Duke of Edin- burgh, who is officially to open this plant on 3 July, what he can say about the future of jobs at Caledonian Airmotive?
Mr. Nott: I do not share the hon. Gentleman's view of British Caledonian. I think that it is an excellent airline. It can and will compete on this route. I do not understand why so many members of the Opposition feel that British Cale- donian is uncompetitive. I am not in- structing British Caledonian about how often it should fly. I am merely upholding the CAA's decision that it should be allowed to fly. That is perfectly correct.
I read in the newspapers that British Caledonian has purchased two DC10 air- craft for this route. If it did so before a decision was taken on the route, they cannot be my responsibility. I believe that British Caledonian will want to fly this route and that it will fly it success- fully. There is a very large untapped market here. In due course, the four air- lines will be profitable on this route.
Mr. Geoffrey Johnson Smith: On the question of the purchase by British Cale- donian of two DC10s, will my right hon. Friend confirm that as far as he knows that was done without a nod and a wink from his own Ministry, but on the initia- tive of British Caledonian, and not in expectation of getting the route which was awarded to it by the CAA on the basis that there would be two carriers? Will he take it that Government sup- porters fully understand the philosophy that guided his decision and are friends not only of competition, but of British Caledonian with respect to the part that it has played in private aviation in this country? Will not my right hon. Friend need to say rather more than he has to-
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day about the reasons that led him to believe that the route to Hong Kong can support four airlines as opposed to two? Does it not take considerable investment for an airline to support any number of flights, be it one a week or two a week?
Mr. Nott: I think that my hon. Friend will find the evidence submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority of great interest. Laker Airways and British Caledonian operate from Gatwick. I believe that
there is a large, untapped market. Many men and women at the bottom end of the market'
66
will fly here if they are given the oppor tunity to do so. I do not share the pessi- mism or belief that the world airline mar- ket is static. I believe that it is dynamic. British airlines must go out and capture the market in competition with other air- lines. I do not share the negative attitude · to airline competition. Having read the evidence, I believe that I am justified in taking that view.
Mr. Dalyell: The Secretary of State taunted my right hon. Friend the Member for Lanarkshire, North (Mr. Smith) and other hon. Members when they argued in favour of British Caledonian. However, is it not equally true that he has been the protagonist of Laker Airways? The Civil Aviation Authority said in black and white that it believed that Laker Air- ways had failed to make a convincing case for a licence. In those circumstances, what is the purpose of having the CAA?
Mr. Nott: In return, may I ask the hon. Gentleman what the purpose of an appeal procedure is if it is not used in such a case as this?
Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop: If my right hon. Friend's decisions are consistent rather than capricious, will he apply the same principles as he has enunciated today to another greatly abused cabotage route on which excessive fares are charged for a poor service? I refer to the route be- tween the United Kingdom and Gibraltar.
Mr. Nott: If airline operators submit fresh applications for that route, the CAA will examine them under the exist- ing licensing system. Those who object to its decision are free to appeal to me. 1 shall make a decision on the facts con- tained in those applications. If my hon.