A tussle between Hong Kong's two airlines over routes to the mainland is back on course for public scrutiny after their joint application to halt proceedings leading towards an open hearing was rejected yesterday.
High Court Justice William Stone, who chairs the Air Transport Licensing Authority (Atla), ruled against the request, which had been submitted by both airlines, to adjourn the hearing into Cathay's application for a licence to operate flights on mainland routes from Hong Kong.
Dragonair sparked the issue in September, when it filed a formal objection with Atla - an independent statutory body charged with the licensing of Hong Kong airlines for air services - over Cathay's application to fly between Hong Kong and Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.
The two airlines said on Tuesday during a public directions hearing that they were privately negotiating a commercial compromise that could alleviate the need for a public hearing.
Mr Justice Stone ordered, however, that the hearing must proceed as scheduled, one week from today. At the same time, he chastised the pair for inappropriately using Atla as leverage in their commercial negotiations.
'In my view, the public interest is not served by placing duly constituted procedures on hold in the manner now suggested,' he said.