§ 29. Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation why a K.L.M. plane, carrying 24 American students from the United States of America, was not allowed to land at Prestwick recently and had, thereupon, to proceed to Holland.
§ Mr. BeswickThe aircraft was allowed to land, but in the absence of inter-governmental arrangements relating to commercial non-scheduled international flights an operator normally requires prior permission before taking up or setting down such traffic at airports abroad. At the time of this flight no such arrangement existed between the Netherlands Government and ourselves, and no prior permission had been sought.
The Netherlands Government have since completed arrangements with His Majesty's Government to provide for such flights, thus obviating similar difficulties in future.
§ Lord Malcolm Douglas-HamiltonIs it not the case that the K.L.M. aircraft took off from America expecting to land at Prestwick, and is it not the case that a little more flexibility and a little less red tape would have avoided causing annoyance to foreign visitors?
§ Mr. BeswickIt is the case that operators should take the simple precautions they are expected to take.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIn the present state of the world, would it not have been much more sensible to have allowed these students to land and argued it out afterwards?
§ Mr. BeswickNo, Sir. There is an arrangement that non-scheduled operators should not bring passengers into this 2304 country unless they have obtained prior agreement, and if we are to have such arrangements, quite clearly they cannot be broken.
§ Mr. Langford-HoltCould the hon. Gentleman tell us what steps he intends to take to inform operators in the United States of the rather terse advice he has just given?
§ Mr. BeswickThe operators already know of this advice.