I felt that it was in the interests of airline passengers that they be offered a wider choice of service than exists at present, that it would be unreasonable to expect British airlines, within the meaning of Section 3(1) of the Act, to be granted exclusive rights when Cathay Pacific are based in Hong Kong, command much local loyalty, and can expect to draw traffic from their network of regional services.
I concluded therefore that the substantial new traffic likely to be generated over a period by a wider variety of services would offer a reasonable prospect that four operators could, over a period, achieve an economic return on this route.
I have accordingly upheld the Civil Aviation Authority's decision to license British Caledonian but in addition have directed it to reverse its decisions on the other two applications and issue licences in the same terms to Cathay Pacific and Laker, but without prejudice to the former's existing rights between Hong Kong and Bahrain. The Authority and the other parties to the appeals are being informed of my decision today.
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