§ Sir W. Smilesasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation if he is aware that many business men in Northern Ireland are reluctant to 176W travel by air owing to the possibility of their seats being claimed at the last minute by priority passengers; and if he will arrange that seats booked and paid for three weeks in advance will not be confiscated at a moment's notice.
Mr. Ivor ThomasI am not aware that the position is as stated in the first part of the Question. Between London and Belfast a proportion of seats is reserved on each day for business men whose applications are sponsored by Government Departments. It is unlikely that any business man to whom one of those seats is allotted would be displaced. The allocation of seats on air transport services is the responsibility of the Air Priorities Board and I am not in a position to make the arrangement suggested in the last part of the Question. Every effort is made to avoid last-minute displacements of passengers.