LAKER AIRWAYS LIMITED
GATWICK AIRPORT
LONDON
RECEIVED IN
17 MAK,980
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRAAT'S ONCE
The Right Honorable John Nott M.P. Secretary of State for Trade Department of Trade
1, Victoria Street London S.W.1
Dear Minister,
HORLEY, SURREY
01-668 9363
CRAWLEY 31222
TELEX 87307
CABLES: AIRLAKER GATWICK
17th March 1980
TOURINGTAKE COPIES TO
FOR ADVICE (AND DRAFT REPLY IF
APPROPRIATE)
PLEASE BY:
USIff) SECREERY MUR. BLANKS MR ROBERTS
05.3.80.80.7050€.
With reference to the current civil aviation legislation passing through Parliament and this Company's recent experi- ence at the hands of the Hong Kong Government's Air Transport Licensing Authority, I write to request an urgent review of the air transport licensing system and regulations applicable in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong ATLA operates under the Air Transport (Licensing of Air Services) Regulations originally issued in 1949 under the authority of the Air Navigation Act 1936. The Civil Aviation Act 1971 has not been extended to Hong Kong by Order in Council. The Hong Kong regulations as one might expect embody policies long outdated and now totally at odds with the 1971 Act. Further, the protectionism under- lying these regulations is, of course, diametrically opposed to the liberal policies the present Government is espousing as embodied in the pending Civil Aviation Bill. A revision of the Hong Kong regulations is long overdue.
As you will no doubt recall, the run-up to the Hong Kong ATLA hearing in which we were involved last November was conspicuous for its cavalier disregard for logic, basic legal rights, the U.K. Government's interests and the majority of the applicants' interests. The U.K. Government expressly requested that the Hong Kong ATLA delay its hearing so that the CAA could hold its hearing first in the U.K. This was ignored by the Hong Kong Government. Two-thirds of the applicants were British airlines requiring a U.K. CAA license as a sine qua non. In such circumstances the expensive and time-consuming hearing in Hong Kong should have been a tender to the CAA's engine.
REG. OFFICE: NORMANDY HOUSE, ST. HELIER, JERSEY
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