1989
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 15 February 1989
香港立法局—————— 一九八九年二月十五日
45
I now turn to Mr. CHEUNG's suggestion that more than one Hong Kong airline should be designated "to operate on those routes where the demand outstrips existing capacity". On the face of it, that might appear to be a simple, speedy and easy solution, but it ignores the complexities of the situation. Briefly, the factors to be considered include
(a) whether there is more than one Hong Kong airline licensed for the route. (Here I must point out there are only two routes, Peking and Shanghai, for which more than one Hong Kong airline is currently licensed);
(b) whether the right exists under the relevant air services agreement for a
second Hong Kong airline to be designated;
(c) whether, if there is such a right, there is available under the relevant
agreement any unused capacity for the second airline to take up;
(d) whether additional rights can be obtained from the bilateral partner, at a price that Hong Kong can reasonably afford in exchange for those additional rights; and
(e) whether, assuming that capacity is available and it is in the interests of Hong Kong that a second airline be designated, that airline has the aircraft capable of operating the route.
In other words, Hong Kong does not have full and unilateral freedom of action. Nor does designating more than one airline by the Hong Kong Government automatically lead to more capacity.
On the question of seeking additional rights and all that that entails, I refer to the statement on the subject made by my predecessor on 20 November 1985 and my own statement on 18 February 1987 in the Legislative Council.
In conclusion, I wish to assure Members that on the basis of normal principles governing exchanges of rights, and assuming that airlines are in a position to operate extra services, the Government will continue to seek to obtain the extra traffic rights needed to provide the right air transport network essential to sustain the territory's economy and to enable residents to travel abroad for business or pleasure.