Member

I should also directly confront the discussion about the considerable international dimensions of all this, because of course many of these flights are to other countries, rather than domestic flights. IATA, as the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, says, is an international trade association. The Government are not a member, but UK airlines are. We can at least seek to influence IATA through UK airlines, and we should do that. ICAO is a United Nations agency, set up under the Chicago convention, of which the UK is a member, and we can, therefore, influence ICAO. But international change needs international consensus and, sadly, my understanding is that the United States may not agree with at least some of what has been said. Nevertheless, the task and finish group of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, will be presenting to ICAO, and we will encourage others to respond to it, just as we will. We will do what we can. I have to say that a number of these areas are sadly constrained by this, including the compensation governed by the Montreal convention. So, we do have some practical limitations.