HC Deb 25 July 1986 vol 102 cc513-5W
Mr. Caborn

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will provide details of goods procured by his Department from (a) South Africa and (b) Namibia for each year from 1980 to 1985, including the total value for each year and the value of each category of items for each year;

(2) if he will give details of all contracts involving his Department and majority-owned South African companies since June 1979.

Mr. Moore

This information is not available.

Mr. Caborn

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide details of all agreements concerning air links between South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Michael Spicer

Scheduled air services between the United Kingdom and the Republic of South Africa operate under a bilateral air services agreement of 26 October 1945 as amended by exchanges of notes dated 15 September 1959, 1 December 1972, 25 March 1974 and 2 November 1984/24 February 1985. These have been published as Cmnd. 7858, Cmnd. 889, Cmnd. 5222, Cmnd. 5614 and Cmnd. 9582 respectively.

Mr. Caborn

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of passengers (a) entering the United Kingdom from South Africa and (b) departing from the United Kingdom to South Africa from each of the United Kingdom's international airports for the years 1980 to 1985.

Mr. Michael Spicer

The number of passengers entering the United Kingdom from South Africa and departing from the United Kingdom to South Africa on direct flights between the United Kingdom and South Africa are shown in the table below. All the passengers used Heathrow airport (except in a few cases where the flight was diverted at short notice for operational reasons). The figures do not include passengers travelling between the United Kingdom and South Africa who changed planes at an intermediate point.

Flights entering the United Kingdom from South Africa and departing from the United Kingdom for South Africa
Passengers entering from South Africa Passengers departing from the United Kingdom for South Africa
1980 174,249 185,261
1981 169,223 194,045
1982 178,851 203,184
1983 174,871 177,293
1984 183,825 189,434
1985 174,260 176,857

Source: CAA airport statistics.

Mr. Caborn

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide the total value of (a) exports to South Africa and (b) imports from South Africa via each of the United Kingdom's airports for the years 1980 to 1985.

Mr. Michael Spicer

The following figures are available from Customs and Excise. Not all the trade moved directly between the United Kingdom airports and South Africa: some transferred to or from other air services at other United Kingdom or foreign airports. In the case of imports, South Africa was the country of consignment but not necessarily the country of origin.

Trade with South Africa through United Kingdom airports
£ thousands
1980* 1981* 1982 1983 1984 1985
Heathrow
Imports 405,365 229,338 245,952 278,247 227,212 411,770
Exports 119,777 129,274 166,863 176,964 229,641 229,945
Gatwick
Imports 215 707 7,552 149 132 280
Exports 1,566 2,372 2,951 1,964 2,477 1,583
Manchester
Imports 1,046 1,004 799 822 921 1,232
Exports 533 1,162 1,791 2,105 2,922 3,385
Birmingham
Imports 74 204 243 153 133 138
Exports 633 305 72 43 11 30
Stansted
Imports 40 29 3
Exports 4 910 3,578 910 8
Glasgow
Imports 96 252 184 479 876 164
Exports 472 49 724 326 768 440
Others
Imports 2,286 792 580 441 715 1,871
Exports 4,093 12,313 16,070 7,346 6,118 6,759
Total United Kingdom
Imports 409,123 232,326 255,312 280,292 229,988 415,455
Exports 127,074 145,480 189,380 191,983 242,845 242,150
* Values include trade with Namibia in 1980, 1981—a few per cent. of imports and much less than one per cent. of exports.