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Hong Kong/Austria Air Services Agreement

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We have been approached by the Austrian government with a request to negotiate an ASA with Hong Kong.

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You may be aware that there are already air links Hong Kong and Austria: a once weekly service is currently operated by Lauda Aix. In the absence of any formal inter-governmental agreement, Lauda Air's operation is covered only by temporary arrangements. These arrangements offer A practical and expedient means to enable the early introduction of air services between Hong Kong and Austria.

They do not, however, provide an adequate basis for Lauda Air, and

any Hong Kong based airlines which

wish to enter the market in future, to look ahead and formulate long term development plans.

We share the views of the Austrian authorities that, since traffic demand

this route has continued to grow, it is now appropriate to replace the temporary arrangements by a more formal and permanent framework in the form of an ASA.

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Although at the moment no Hong Kong based airlines Austria, the situation could change in the light of changing commercial considerations and the needs of the travelling public. We believe that negotiating an ASA with the Austrian authorities now will safeguard the long-term aviation interest of Hong Kong and provide Hong Kong based airlines with a firm and secure basis to enter the market at a later date.

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