§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the cost in terms of delay and additional fuel and other costs to British Airways and other British airlines as a result of the need to detour Vietnam; and what steps he is taking to renegotiate overflying rights.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisIn April 1975 the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended that civil aircraft should cease to use the direct airways in446W of imports of toughened windscreen glass during each of the last five years.
§ Mr. DellImports of toughened or laminated glass ready for incorporation in motor vehicles were as follows:
£ million c.i.f. 1971 … … … 2.0 1972 … … … 2.6 1973 … … … 2.9 1974 … … … 3.5 1975 … … … 4.0
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish in the Official Report figures showing the total imports and exports by volume and value, of glass and glass products during each of the last three years.
§ Mr. DellFollowing is the information:
the Saigon Flight Information Region (FIR) because of difficulties besetting the Saigon Flight Information Centre (FIC) which then controlled services in the upper airspace over South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; the ICAO contingency re-routing has been in operation ever since by all international services.
The Vietnamese Government have now set up an FIR only in their own national airspace as have the Government of Laos; nothing has been said on this subject by the Government of Kampuchia (previously Cambodia). Negotiations have been proceeding for some time now between the civil aviation authorities of Vietnam and Laos and by both with the similar authorities in Thailand and Hong Kong, who control the FIRs either side of Indochina, to agree upon the facilities necessary and the procedures to be followed to allow safe air navigation to be resumed on the direct air routes; these negotiations have not yet been completed and recent political changes in the area may initially make this process more difficult.
All the necessary traffic rights are available for British airlines to operate scheduled services over Indochina and 447W operators on non-scheduled services will be able to apply for the usual ad hoc permissions as soon as the air space reopens.
The total additional cost, to all British airlines, of flying round Indochina is estimated at some £3 million a year.