TNAG-0843-FCO40-1053-Visit-of-Lord-Carrington--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-1979 — Page 191

CONFIDENTIAL

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7.

If an RAF VC10 were to be used for the journey to Peking (via Hong Kong or otherwise) and from say Shanghai back to Hong Kong or Singapore or another point in that area, and scheduled services used for the rest of the journey, the cost would be not less than £22,000 and probably more in the region of £29,000. The FCO would also have to bear the costs of the VC10's return journey to the UK - about £21,000 whether the Secretary of State returned in it or not, as the RAF say that trooping requirements from Hong Kong would not exist then and that in any case the aircraft would be VIP-configured, with bunks, etc so that travel costs would be around the £50,000 mark, plus scheduled air fares for those attending the CENTO Ministerial Meeting very approximately £7,000 (excluding those officials travelling from London to Washington direct).

8.

Perhaps the following alternative should be considered, making use of the fact that British Airways Charter Office believe that they could divert their 3-times a week super VC10 Hong Kong-Tokyo service to go to Peking on 9 April and likewise their Tokyo-Hong Kong service via Shanghai on 14 April. A normal charter either way (which would be a VC10 Tridents do not operate in that part of the world) would cost £15,000 at least, but a diversion, they estimate at this stage, would only cost £8,000-£9,000 each way - an appreciable saving. Ordinary passengers would of course have to be on board but there would be a separate part of the aircraft for the Secretary of State's party.

9.

If this were acceptable, the time-table would be:-

The Secretary of State leaves London on 7 April for Hong Kong by the fastest means of getting there

BA 003

ETD Heathrow ETA Hong Kong

1300 hours

1315 hours on 8 April.

Flying time 17 hours 15 minutes, plus 7 hours time change.

Stays overnight in Hong Kong. The British Airways flight leaves Hong Kong at 0910 on 9 April, flying time to Peking 2 hours 40 minutes. Internal travel being arranged by the Chinese, the British Airways Tokyo-Hong Kong flight leaving Tokyo at 1630 on 14 April could divert to say Shanghai at approximately 1830 (allowing for time difference), arriving at Hong Kong at about

2100.

10. This would only give the Secretary of State an afternoon and night in Hong Kong on the outward journey. If the rest of his visit there could not be accomplished on and after 14 April and if he were unable to depart from London on 6 April instead of 7th (by the same flight), then we could

/charter

CONFIDENTIAL

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