My first comment is about the term ‘third level'—I believe it to be bad. I think it does the operators concerned an injustice. I think it inappropriate because, as we all know, almost anything with the word ‘third’ applied to it is widely accepted as being sub-standard. In some cases, as in the bad old days of third-class railway travel in the UK, it was virtually an admission that the standard offered was poor.

For these reasons the term is quite misleading in the aviation context, for third-level operators are in fact actively engaged in raising the standards of air transport in the regional areas. In doing this they are following the trend in aviation generally. The introduction of jets over intercontinental routes was inevitably followed by their use over major domestic networks. Today we are witnessing their increasing adoption in regional air transport, one of the principal reasons being that passengers accustomed to top class amenities on intercontinental flights are not happy about anything much less comfortable or less speedy when they leave the big jet at ths major international airport; they have come to expect comparable standards from the feederline or regional service by which they are to complete the journey.