 This was because the tax was only valid for routes within Southern Norway; Braathens and SAS could therefore tacitly collude to increase the prices to Northern Norway, and thereby subsidize their routes in Southern Norway.Color Air, on the other hand, would be forced to put the full tax on all its departures.While the government had no way to hinder the incumbents from doing this, Gudmund Restad, Minister of Finance from the Centre Party, encouraged the airlines to not "cheat", and follow the intentions of the law, even if he admitted that there was nothing the government could do to hinder the airlines from cross-subsidizing.