2
Scheduled services
4.
To
Let me deal first with scheduled services.
operate such services on any given route, an airline already holding an air operator's certificate must, as a first step, obtain the requisite licence. It is ATLA, an independent body established under the Air Transport (Licensing of Air Services) Regulations, which determines licence applications. Its terms of reference for doing so are laid down in law in some detail, but generally speaking it must have regard to the co-ordination and development of air
services with the object of ensuring the most effective service to the public while avoiding uneconomical overlapping. An ATLA decision on a licence application is
final.
5.
The next step is for the airline (assuming it meets the designation criteria) to be designated under the
relevant air services agreement to exercise rights on the
route for which it has been licensed or, if the rights do
not exist, for a decision to be taken as to whether those
rights should be sought. Designation and the decision on whether to seek additional rights are matters for HMG acting on the advice of the Hong Kong Government. Where the rights exist, it is only in the most exceptional circumstances that a government can decline to accept designation of an
airline.
6.
As I mentioned earlier, international air
transport is highly regulated. Air traffic rights are not available to all and sundry. Such valuable rights are
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