§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will grant Singapore Airlines regulatory approval to operate transatlantic services from London Heathrow to the United States; for how many years this application has been outstanding; and if he will make a statement. [125896]
§ Mr. MullinUK/Singapore air services arrangements already provide routeing rights for airlines of Singapore to operate across the Atlantic from Heathrow to the United States. What they do not provide for, and what Singapore Airlines has been seeking specifically since 1989, are fifth freedom traffic rights for airlines of Singapore across the Atlantic to the US. During recent UK/Singapore air services negotiations, we have said that we would review the case for offering fifth freedom rights once the UK/US market had been liberalised.