§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make a Statement concerning the fares package for the North Atlantic route agreed at the IATA meeting in Geneva on December 2, 1971.]
TIIE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (LORD DRUMALBYN)My Lords, the IATA Conference on North Atlantic fares began on December 2 and is still in progress. It is to be hoped that agreement will be reached on the broad lines laid down by airline chairmen and presidents in Honolulu on November 18, and that the new fares will take effect from April 1, 1972, except for the new winter group inclusive tour fares which might be brought in sooner.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, before asking a supplementary question, may I ask, for clarification, whether the noble Lord is giving me an Answer or is telling me that he cannot give me an Answer to the Question on the Order Paper?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I am asked to make a Statement. I have made a Statement.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, I am sorry, but I am still not clear. May I ask the noble Lord whether —as all these conferences are going on together—he might be able to amplify that statement if I amplify my Question which is put down for Answer next- 886 week? Apart from that, could the noble Lord, either to-day or next week, answer two specific points in connection with North Atlantic fares? Will a person applying for a cheap fare to fly across the Atlantic be able to apply for a certain date and a certain flight and be able to pay beforehand? The second question is this. May I ask what advantage a person buying an economy fare across the Atlantic (at an estimated present cost of £165) will have over the person getting this cheap ticket at £83 apart from the fact that he will not have to remain for a stated period at his destination?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, if I may say so, I think the noble Baroness is asking questions which are really outside the original Question that she put to me. The point is really quite simple. Agreement has not yet been reached on fares and therefore I cannot answer her questions. They are at the moment utterly hypothetical.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, that is what I thought. I thought that the noble Lord's reply was hypothetical. May I ask, finally, whether perhaps we can have an Answer next week which can be "unhypothetical".
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, that will depend upon the nature of the Question that the noble Baroness puts.