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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1643.PDF
FLIGHT International, 12 September 1963 453 PAKISTAN'S PACT WITH CHINA ARRANGEMENTS for a regular air service between Pakistan and the People's Republic of China took a notable step towards reality on August 29 when Air Cdre B. K. Dass, Deputy Director of Pakistan Civil Aviation, and Chen Tu, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, signed a bilateral air agreement. On the following day, Pakistan International Airlines and CAAC signed an interline agreement. As we commented last June when it was announced that discussions had begun, this move towards participation in international air transport has been an important political decision by the Chinese—a decision in some ways akin to that made by Russia eight years ago when they allowed Finnair to operate into Moscow. However, this pact between China and Pakistan is the first of its kind to be signed by the Peking Government with a country having a defensive alliance with the West. Already it has provoked strong criticism from the United States Government, and will also no doubt do nothing to soothe the long-standing troubled relations between Pakistan and India. When Air CdreNur Khan, managing director of PIA, announced the agreements he said that they Were just like any other between two countries and contained all the standard clauses. The agree ments provide for the operation of scheduled services by PIA and CAAC over routes %hown on the map below, and on the under standing that the frequency, type of aircraft used, and fares and rates will be agreed between the two airlines. Before operations can begin, there is a certain amount of technical work to be done on the Chinese airports before they are suitable for PIA's Boeing 720Bs. It is understood that the work involved includes the length ening and strengthening of runways and it has been provisionally agreed that services should start early next year. Although PIA have not yet announced any details of the services, it is almost certain that the flights across China will be a continu ation of services from New York and London which at present terminate in Karachi. For many years PIA have been kept from their amibition of operating services to Tokyo by refusal of traffic rights at Hong Kong and Singapore. Nevertheless, the original incentive for the present agreements appears to have come from the Chinese; but the advantages to PIA will be quite significant. Total elapsed time on a PIA service from Europe to the Orient via the Middle East will be only slightly longer than by the trans-Polar services of Air France, Japan Air Lines, KLM and SAS; the new routes, at least from West Pakistan, enable PIA to fly east without crossing India. Presumably services by CAAC will not be permitted by India to cross Assam to Dacca in East Pakistan. Other features of the agreements mentioned by Air Cdre Nur Khan were that passengers of all nationalities will be able to transit Chinese airports on PIA flights without being required to be in possession of a transit visa. Transport on the services will be per formed under the usual liability provisions of the Warsaw Conven tion, and passengers and crews will have freedom of movement and facilities at the Chinese airports during transit. With regard to financial provisions, the air commodore said that PIA will be able to repatriate its surplus earnings in China by conversion into sterling at the official rate. First United States reaction to the agreements has been to cancel the promised loan of £1.5m for airport improvements at Dacca. So far there has been no threat to the £1.1 m loan to PIA by the Ex-Im bank in Washington for the purchase of three S-61N helicopters for the East Pakistan network. The known US hostility to the scheme lends support to reports that both CAAC and PIA are shopping in France and the UK for aircraft and equipment to operate the services. CAAC, it is reported in Interavia Air Letter, is considering the purchase of 40 to 50 Hawker Siddeley Comet 4Cs, and a sales mission from the company has been in Peking for several weeks. It is said that the Chinese want delivery within two years, but this would seem almost impossible because of the run down in Comet production. However, it would seem more likely that the Chinese will follow PIA and show more interest in the possible use of Tridents, BAC One-Elevens or Sud-Aviation Caravelles. his map shows the routes concerned in the China/Pakistan bilateral air agreement
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