§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the present position of discussions with Malaysia on a revised air services agreement; what is the position on the overflying of Malaysia by Concorde; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisFollowing the preliminary discussions on a revised air services agreement held in London in May a further round of talks was held in Kuala Lumpur last week. Substantial progress was made in agreeing the modali614W ties for capacity determination on the routes between Malaysia and the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. The Malaysians were given assurances about their planned airbus services to Hong Kong, commencing at the latter end of this year, and an indication that when the planned rearrangements for services between the United Kingdom and South-East Asia and Australia were introduced, there would be room for additional MAS capacity on the route to London.
Concorde has been flying supersonically through Malaysian airspace along the Straits of Malacca since the service to Singapore resumed on 24 January. This followed an announcement by the Malaysian Government on 15 December last year that supersonic over-flight could be resumed for a trial period of six months.