§ 24. Mr. James Davidsonasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a general direction to the Airports Authority to make new arrangements for handling the baggage of passengers arriving on domestic flights, in view of the delays caused by the present system.
§ The Minister of State, Board of Trade (Mr. J. P.W. Mallalieu)No, Sir. This is not an appropriate matter for a general direction under Section 2(6) of the Airports Authority Act, 1965.
§ Mr. DavidsonIs the hon. Gentleman aware that at least 10 minutes, and sometimes as much as 20 minutes or half an hour, per passenger could be saved by putting baggage direct from aircraft on to trailers or into the bus and bringing it into the terminal at the same time as the passengers?
§ Mr. MallalieuI am not sure of the timing of that, but if the hon. Gentleman has a serious point I would be very grateful if he would put it to the British Airports Authority.
§ Mr. FortescueIs the hon. Gentleman aware that this problem has been largely solved by the independent airlines on the domestic flights, but has not been solved by a nationalised Corporation?
§ Mr. MallalieuI know that there is a temporary difficulty at Heathrow, but this is due to attempts to improve the situation.