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6. IN TALKING TO SIM KEE BOON I QUESTIONED HIS ASSERTION THAT NOTHING NEW WAS INVOLVED IN SIA PARTICIPATING IN END-TO-END TRAFFIC. I SAID THAT, AS I UNDERSTOOD IT, WHILE SIA COULD (NEXT WORD UNDERLINED) ADVERTISE THAT PEOPLE COULD FLY FROM
SYDNEY TO LONDON BY SIA, THIS WAS IN FACT A STOP-OVER FLIGHT (EVEN IF, BY A BIT OF SHARP PRACTICE, THE STOPOVER WERE NO MORE THAN A COUPLE OF HOURS IN THE TRANSIR LOUNGE AT PAYA LEBAR WHILE THE FLIGHT NUMBER OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS CHANGED EXCLAMATION MARK) AND THE FARE CHARGES WAS THE SUM OF THE TWO SECTOR FARES AND
THEREFORE CONTAINED A STOPOVER SURCHARGE ON THE DIRECT END-TO-
END FARE. HE DID NOT ANSWER ME DIRECTLY BUT CONTINUED TO ASSERT
THAT, TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, SIA HAD ACCESS AT THE PRESENT TIME TO THE DIRECT END-TO-END TRAFFIC. RAJARATNAM TOOK RATHER
THE SAME LINE: EVEN IF SIA HAD NO END-TO-END RIGHTS UNDER THE OLD REGIME, THIS WAS NO REASON WHY THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE THEM UNDER THE NEW ICAP REGIME SEMI COLON WITHOUT SUCH PARTICIPATION
THEY WOULD LOSE A SHARE OF THE TRAFFIC WHICH THEY HAD DEVELOPED LEGITIMATELY, AND THE COULD NOT CONSENT TO FOREGO IT.
UNILATERAL
7. JOE PILLAY, THE CHAIRMAN OF SIA, HAS FLUTTERED THE DOVE- COTES HERE BY SAYING THAT IF NO AGREEMENT IS REACHED WITH THE AUSTRALIANS ACCEPTABLE TO SINGAPORE, SIA WILL MAKE A DECLARATION OF LOW FARES'', AND DARE AUSTRALIA TO
RETALIATE. THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS HAS PUT OUT A DEMENTI, SAYING THAT THIS THREAT DOES NOT REFLECT THE SPIRIT
· IN WHICH ASEAN IS NEGOTIATING WITH AUSTRALIA, AND THAT, IF AGREEMENT IS NOT REACHED, THE DECISION ON WHAT SHOULD THEN
BE DONE IS ONE FOR THE ASEAN GOVERNMENTS TO TAKE COLLECTIVELY.
BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT PILLAY HAS SEIZED ON SOMETHING THAT
KLM ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD DO IF THEY FAILED TO REACH
AGREEMENT WITH AUSTRALIA, AND THERE IS TALK HERE (WHICH I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO CHECK) THAT KLM DID IN FACT INTRODUCE SOME
ICAP TYPE FARES UNILATERALLY WITHOUT PROVOKING AUSTRALIAN
REACTION.
8. I THINK THAT WE WILL WISH TO UPHOLD THE GENERAL INTERNATIONAL
CIVIL AVIATION POLICY THAT THIRD COUNTRY AIRLINES
DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO DIRECT END-TO-END THROUGH TRAFFIC BETWEEN TWO OTHER COUNTRIES, AND THAT THERE IS NO GROUND FOR CONCEDING IT TO SINGAPORE IN THE CONTEXT OF ICAP. I DO THINK, HOWEVER,
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