§ Mr. Copeasked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) what assumptions have been used about the fares to be charged to Concorde passengers in arriving at the estimate in his statement of 18th March 1974 that the operation of Concorde could worsen the financial results of British Airways;
(2) what assumptions have been used about the ratio of first class and tourist class passengers who will fly on Concorde in arriving at the estimate in his statement of 18th March 1974 about the operation of Concorde by British Airways;
(3) which routes and which airports it has been assumed will be used by Concorde in arriving at the estimate in his statement of 18th March about the operation of Concorde by British Airways;
(4) what assumptions have been used about the proportion of passengers who will fly in Concorde on the routes on which it is introduced in arriving at the estimate in his statement of 18th March 1974 about the operation of Concorde by British Airways;
(5) to what extent the estimate in his statement of 18th March 1974 of a worsening of the financial results of British Airways by reason of their operation of Concorde is assumed to be the result of the operation of Concorde itself; and to what extent it is assumed to be the effect of the introduction of Concorde in taking passengers away from British Airways subsonic services.
§ Mr. ShoreIn arriving at its estimate that the operation of Concorde could substantially worsen its financial results, British Airways used a range of assumptions about a number of key factors,60W including in particular the fares to be charged for Concorde services. The proportion of total traffic attracted to Concorde on the proposed routes and the extent of losses on Concorde services themselves and of losses to British Airways' subsonic services from diversion of passengers to Concorde are all related to the assumption made about fare levels. British Airways has made it clear that when it placed its order for five Concordes in May 1972, its estimates of the likely effect of Concorde operations on its total financial results ranged from an improvement of profitability of £6 million per annum to a worsening of £26 million per annum. Its latest estimate is that the outcome would at best be towards the adverse end of that range.
British Airways has throughout assumed a single class of Concorde services. The following routes are covered in its latest estimates:
- London—New York (Kennedy)
- London—Washington
- London—Sydney
- London—Tokyo
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry said in his statement on 18th March—[Vol. 870, c. 666–676.]—supersonic corridors for services to Tokyo and Sydney have still to be arranged, although no objections in principle have been voiced. It is as yet uncertain whether the aircraft would prove acceptable at New York (Kennedy), Tokyo or Sydney on noise grounds.