§ 2.42 p.m.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the dispensation to run charter flights at low prices and both advertise and sell tickets direct to the public granted by them on an experimental basis to B.O.A.C. and British Caledonian for flights to Malaya and Singapore, they will consider granting a similar dispensation to B.E.A. for an experimental flight in Europe.]
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, the exemptions granted to the charter subsidiaries of B.O.A.C. and British Caledonian relate to charter services where it is the charterer rather than the airline which advertises and sells the tickets. These exemptions were issued by my right honourable friend the Minister for Trade on an interim basis to meet a situation in which traffic would otherwise have been lost to foreign airlines. A similar situation does not exist so far as B.E.A. are concerned.
§ BARONESS BURTON OF COVENTRYMy Lords, obscurity does not get any less. May I ask the Minister whether it would not be possible to make tickets available on this somewhat peculiar basis on other flights?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, the noble Baroness is asking whether this exemption can be extended to B.E.A. The point is that the exemption was made in special circumstances. B.E.A. have not asked for exemptions of this kind. They are seeking IATA agreement to new types of low fares appropriate to European conditions.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that if dispensations were granted to Europe in this way, there is every danger that we should get into the same tangle there as exists now on the North Atlantic? Again, would it not be possible for Her Majesty's Government to take some clear line, if no other body in this country is able to, and to state clearly what principles, in their view, should be followed in these negotiations?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, we are hoping that it will be possible to arrive at new charter rules in respect of routes. I cannot say more than that at the present time; but this is the direction in which we are moving.
§ BARONESS BURTON or COVENTRYMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether, when he speaks about charter routes, he means that these tickets would be available to the public direct, and that it would not be necessary to be a member of some affinity group or to be on an actual charter flight?
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, it is precisely because of the difficulty arising from the affinity groups that we are seek-ing some other method of dealing with this matter. So far as affinity groups are concerned, it is Her Majesty's Government's intention, as I think the noble Baroness knows, to apply the rules strictly.