§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether problems faced by the travelling public following the collapse of Laker Airways have yet been resolved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Sproat[pursuant to his reply, 1 March 1982, c. 15]: Since my statement on 1 March to the effect that Laker Airways' scheduled passengers were all brought home successfully, I understand that a number of ticket holders have subsequently made their presence known in Miami and Los Angeles.
As was made clear in the receivers' announcement, the four airlines which kindly offered to assist agreed to do so subject to availability of seats and up to the end of February. Unfortunately, there seem to have been some passengers who did not take advantage of these arrangements or left it until the last moment. I understand that, as before, thanks to the efforts of other airlines a number of such ticket holders have been returned to the United Kingdom this week. If there are any further such passengers, and if they are British citizens, they will be able to obtain the normal assistance from our consulates.