§ 26. Mr. Rankinasked the Minister of Aviation what advice he has received from the Air Traffic Control Advisory Committee on the need for a system of unified air traffic control in Europe or in Western Europe.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThe Civil Aircraft Control Advisory Committee has not advised me specifically on the subject of air traffic control in Europe. I hope, however, to sign next month the Euro-control Convention setting up an international body for the control of upper air space.
§ Mr. RankinIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Guild of Air Pilots submitted a paper on this problem of unified air control to the Civil Aircraft Committee, of which the Guild is a member, on 19th September, 1959, and that that paper wandered through the Air Traffic Control Board to the Minister's office and last month was finally returned to the Air Traffic Control Advisory Committee, without anything having been done other than to adorn the paper with various comments? In view of the increasing congestion in the air, can the right hon. Gentleman not try to shorten some of those procedures?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThis and the Air Traffic Control Board are valuable bodies, and I am in broad agreement about the advice which has been given. I think that there is full agreement that what is wanted is an integrated civil and military control system. This is a suitable system for the United Kingdom, so I think that we all agree, and I will do my best to further those ends.