The Regulation of Non-Scheduled Air Services in the United Kingdom 1960 to 1972

Abstract

THE Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act I960 established in the United Kingdom a system of licensing for the civil aviation industry. Among other measures, the Act created the Air Transport Licensing Board (A.T.L.B.) as a semijudicial tribunal to which United Kingdom airlines were bound to apply for licences to operate air services. Both the state-owned airlines, B.O.A.C. and B.E.A., and the private sector airlines thus required licences. During the course of the A.T.L.B.'s history (from I960 to I972 in effect) non-scheduled operations grew at an annual rate some three times faster than scheduled operations [i ]. A very large part of the non-scheduled operations came to be on behalf of tour operators offering inclusive tours (package holidays). During the period of rapid growth, the A.T.L.B. expressed concern at the effect of demand by tour operators on the non-scheduled airlines, in particular at the forcing down of the prices of charters for inclusive tours and at the financial instability which, it was argued, afflicted the non-scheduled airlines as a result. Concern was also expressed at the diminution of the consumer's choice of package holidays which might result from emergence of a few large firms of tour operators dominating the market. These fears were not allayed, despite the measures taken by the A.T.L.B., in part perhaps because it had no jurisdiction over the tour operators, who were merely the charterers of airline capacity. An examination of the A.T.L.B.'s policy and practice is of interest not only in the context of air travel and tourism but also in the context of transport regulation generally.