European tours 'need new licence
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SEEKING to enter the Continental tours field by means of a variation of an existing licence or day excursions in Great Britain is inappropriate. The two types of operation are different and conducted under different conditions. Applications by operators who do not hold a licence for Continental tours should be by way of a new licence, setting out clearly the points of origin, picking-up and settingdown points, routes and, if required, the feeder services proposed.
The South Eastern Traffic Commissioners said this in a written decision, refusing applications by Glider and Blue Motor Services Ltd and Angela Coaches, for tours to the Continent, via Albert Johnson Quay, Portsmouth. (CM May 21-28.) Concerning Glider and Blue, they said it was an old-established company operating from Bishop's Waltham and Fareham and licensed for day excursions and mini-tours within Great Britain. It was sought to vary these licences by adding three to five-day Continental tours. The objector, Excelsior European Motorways Ltd, was licensed for a wide range of Continental tours, from three to 21 days, from various ports, including Portsmouth.
The Commissioners ruled that there was insufficient evidence of need produced to justify any grant and that there would be a strong probability of abstraction from Excelsior's tours from Fareham.
Angela Coaches had produced some evidence of demand for a new service in a local pocket of population not adequately served by the existing operators. To protect Excelsior, proposed points at Bitterne and Botley ought to be excluded and any licence granted would have to be for tours from Burlesdon. If a fresh application were made it should be for a new licence.
The applications by Excelsior and by Byng's International Coaches Ltd, Portsmouth, were granted. Byng's operations are confined to two, three, four or five-day tours.