§ 6. Mr. Beswickasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action he has taken in regard to the proposed air 830 route between London and Moscow via Berlin.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerThe suggestion for a link at Berlin between British European Airways Services and those of the Soviet airline was made by the Soviet Government in talks held last November. The proposal raised certain political difficulties which required consultation with other Governments. These consultations were still in progress when it became known that the Soviet Government had invited Pan-American Airways to discuss direct flights between the United States of America and Moscow. We had all along preferred a direct service between London and Moscow, which I hope will now be negotiated with the Soviet authorities.
§ Mr. BeswickBut the Pan-American flights have nothing whatever to do with the European flights, and in view of the fact that B.E.A. still wants to operate this flight via Berlin to Moscow, and that the only difficulty is that the Foreign Office has refused to negotiate with the East German Administration, will it now cease its head-in-the-sand attitude towards the East German Administration and conclude this agreement?
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerWe have offered, as I have said, to operate direct flights between London and Moscow, and we have offered, as we did in the talks last November, a meeting of services in Helsinki or Vienna, but the Russians insisted on a meeting in Berlin for political reasons.