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EXTRACTS FROM PRESS REPORTS
AIR LINK
(Hongkong Standard: July 6)
The first non-scheduled passenger charter flight between Hongkong and China will most probably start on October 1.
Unconfirmed reports said the air link, the first of its kind for ordinary passengers going to China from Hongkong, will serve Canton, Shanghai and Peking.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department said yesterday that no application had been received for the operation of either scheduled or non-scheduled passenger flights between Hongkong and China.
(South China Morning Post: August 14)
Negotiations on civil aviation rights between China and the United Kingdom will be resumed, the visiting British Secretary for Trade, Mr. Edmund Dell, said last night.
"The Foreign Minister agreed that discussion on the air serivce should be
initiated," he said.
An agreement was initiated in 1973 but has since been dormant because of problems over the status of Taiwan's China Air Lines which uses Hongkong and the need to take Hongkong's interests into account.
Under the agreement, the then British Overseas Airways Corporation had the right to fly to Peking via Hongkong - but without the right to collect passengers here for China and to fly on to another destination.
(Ta Kung Pao: September 12)
Proposed flight plans between Hong Kong and Canton have reached an advanced stage and the air service may come into operation before October 15.
According to sources, the route will be operated in the form of chartered flights with more than two flights a day in the initial stage.
The flight from Hong Kong to Canton is expected to take 35 minutes and the fare is estimated to be about $200.
(Hong Kong Standard: September 13)
It is now certain that China will operate chartered passenger flights between Canton and Hongkong from the middle of next month.
Although an announcement has yet to be made, a Chinese source said that
the first flight will be on October 12.
The source said more non-scheduled passenger flights would be operated after the closure of the trade fair, which was considered only a starting point for the service.
It is not known at the moment what type of aircraft will be used, but it is likely that Chinese-owned British Trident jets would be the choice.
(Tin Tin Daily News: September 15)
According to sources, both sea and air services between Hong Kong and Canton are to become operational by next month to provide comfortable travel for businessmen attending the Autumn Trade Fair in Canton.
They said the air service would be handled by Jardine, Matheson and Company, and that a senior officer of the firm was currently in Peking to finalise the details.
The hovercraft service, the sources added, will to be introduced after the air link has become operational, and the Tai Kok Tsui ferry pier will be used as the terminal. The fare for the a single hovercraft journey is expected to be about $50 to $80, said the sources.
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