§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a further statement on the number of deaths from spontaneous abortions in each of the years from 1967 to 1970.
§ Mr. AlisonI regret that, owing to a copying mistake, the figures given for this cause in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chigwell (Mr. Biggs-Davison) on 30th April should have read as follows:
§ Mr. NobleApplications for charter flights between the United Kingdom and a country different from the country of the airline operator concerned, and which involve aircraft with a seating capacity of more than 252 passengers, are being refused for the time being.
Charter flights by foreign airlines between the United Kingdom and places other than the country of the airline 139W concerned have long been closely controlled. Some countries prohibit such flights (known as fifth freedom flights) completely; it is widely accepted that carriage of charter traffic should be primarily by the airlines of the countries directly concerned. The United Kingdom practice on fifth freedom charter flights, which are permitted in defined circumstances, under limitations, and subject to reciprocity, was based on use of narrow-bodied aircraft. The advent of the Boeing 747, with a seating capacity more than twice that of the Boeing 707 or VC10, represents a substantial change which could draw off substantially more traffic from the operators of the countries directly concerned, including our own.
The foreign airline operators mainly concerned have been informed that this restriction will apply until further notification.