§ 7. Mr. William Shepherdasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation how many of the B.E.A. services have been speeded up since 1st August; and what percentage increase in petrol consumption has resulted.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Mr. Lindgren)The answer to the first part of the Question is "Nine," and to the last part, "None, Sir."
§ Mr. ShepherdWill the Parliamentary Secretary say how he gets an increase of speed without at the same time getting increased petrol consumption?
§ Mr. LindgrenBy the change of aircraft.
§ 9. Mr. W. Shepherdasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation if he will give a list of the services operated by the three Corporations, which when working to a full capacity, must of necessity involve a loss.
§ Mr. LindgrenNo, Sir. It would not be in the public interest to give this information.
§ Mr. ShepherdIf, as I believe to be the case, there are runs which are losing as much as £8,000 on a return trip, is it not time the public knew the true facts about British civil aviation?
§ Mr. LindgrenTo take individual routes out of the network of services provided would be unfair and would not give the correct picture.
§ Sir Wavell WakefieldIs it not a fact that certain aircraft are not being operated on their full permissible pay load and that as a result losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds are taking place?
§ Mr. LindgrenPermissible pay loads may not always coincide with the operator's view in regard to safety, and safety is the first factor.
§ Mr. ErrollIf the Parliamentary Secretary cannot give the losses for individual lines, can he give the gross figure of loss?
§ Mr. LindgrenThe House will have that information when the accounts of the three Corporations are published shortly.
§ Mr. KeelingWhen the hon. Gentleman says that it would not be in the public interest to give the information, does he mean that it would be contrary to the public interest to give it, and, if so, would he say why?
§ Mr. LindgrenNo, Sir. One is prepared to give information which one's competitors are prepared to give. Discussions are 1677 going on now through the International Civil Aviation Organisation to get all airline operators to agree to give statistics which will enable the public to judge for themselves; such agreed statistics will not place one operator at a disadvantage with another in regard to the information provided.
§ 11. Mr. J. H. Hareasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation why B.O.A.C. have been failing to deliver passengers and mail in Teheran according to schedule.
§ Mr. LindgrenBecause of restrictions on transit imposed by certain Governments arising out of the cholera epidemic in Egypt and a report of plague in Persia.
§ Mr. HareIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the Dutch, Swedish and French airlines have been able to keep a regular service going merely because they took the trouble to avoid Baghdad and fly straight from Lydda to Teheran? Is it not a pity for the sake of British prestige that we are not capable of making some alternative arrangements?
§ Mr. LindgrenThe flight stages and the pay load to be carried over them must be left to the individual operator to determine.
§ Sir W. WakefieldIt is not a fact that private charter companies are keeping up a very accurate schedule for their flights in this area.
§ Mr. LindgrenIt is not a question of accurate flights but of not being able to operate into a particular airport because of restrictions on account of health regulations. The first supplementary question suggested that certain points could have been reached by over-flying other points, but they were not over-flown in this case.