TNAG-0779-FCO40-983-Involvement-of-Hong-Kong-in-air-services-agreements-1978 — Page 28

Alternatives to Australian Proposal

9 In theory these could be:

(a) the status quo

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(b) one of the options in paragraph 3 above

(c) the current proposal for the trunk route, but with the

Australians doing a deal with (say) the Dutch, to bypass

British objections

(a) some modification of the current proposal to make it more

palatable to Singapore and others.

10. The Australians took the line that (a) was impossible for them for domestic political reasons and that (d) was impossible because they had researched exhaustively for a soft option and come up with none. They hinted that if HMG

refused a commitment in principle to the present proposal, they would have to turn to (b) or (c). Neither of the options at (b) above would be satisfactory to us, both

have serious deficiencies and it is doubtful if the

Australians would be attracted to either. (c) above could

be introduced without our concurrence and would inevitably

lead to a serious deterioration in our air services

relations with Australia. It would be seriously detrimental

to BA's position. It is most unlikely however thick Australian's world

So

to such lengths.

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