Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs presents his compliments to the Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires and, with reference to his Embassy's Memorandum of the 18th of November 1976 concerning the proposal by the Government of Macao to build an international airport, has the honour to inform His Excellency that he does not consider that the volume of traffic at Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport to be such that a second international airport in the area will be required
in the foreseeable future. The Secretary of State is therefore obliged to regard the proposal for an international airport at Macao as a potential rival to that at Kai Tak rather than a necessary or worthwhile complement. A further consideration is the potentially detrimental effect that the existence of a second international airport could have on air safety in the area.
The Secretary of State wishes to state that, should the Portuguese Government nevertheless wish to make a feasibility study for an international airport at Macao, he would have no objection, subject to his being satisfied that the civil aviation authorities of the People's Republic of China are content that the project should be pursued, to the Macao authorities having preliminary discussions with the Hong Kong authorities on the technical, financial and air traffic control aspects of the project
in connection with such a feasibility study.
The Secretary of State avails himself of this opportunity to express to the Chargé d'Affaires the
assurance of his high consideration.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
LONDON SW1
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