Mr. W. E. Garrettasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on his policy in the light of the findings of the Market and Opinion Research International surveys of April and October 1975, copies of which have been sent to him, which show that consumers of the low-cost Skytrain service would be a different market from normal scheduled line users and therefore not competitive with British airways.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisMy right hon. Friend pointed out in his policy statement on 29th July 1975 that Skytrain would divert traffic away from the existing services and in particular damage British Airways. This was amplified in my reply to the debate on 31st July. Nothing in the surveys to which my hon. Friend refers justifies a change in that view, and I believe that the needs of the great majority of the public are met by the range of low-cost fares already available on scheduled and non-scheduled services to New York.