Sir - In "Centralised ATM is on the cards for UK" (Flight International, 2 - 8 October, P11) you quote the UK Department of Transport as saying that borrowing on the open market is disallowed. It is surely time that this restrictive application of Treasury rules was challenged.
New Zealand taxpayers, and the users of air-traffic services in that region, have benefited from the fact that their Government is not similarly inhibited about the concept of market borrowing by publicly owned corporations. Perhaps the UK should consider the same refreshing approach. Privatising a key national asset is not the only alternative when a government is reluctant to provide essential finance.
PETER WILKINS
Brighton, UK
Source: Flight International
