European Low Fares Airline Association

46 Avenue des Arts

B

- 1000 Brussels Belgium

tel: +32 (0)2 504 90 05

– fax: +32 (0)2 732 71 76

- info@elfaa.com

- www.elfaa.com

Registered address: 21

- 23, 1 st Floor, West Street, Oundle, Cambridgeshire, PE8 4EJ, United Kingdom Registered in England & Wales No. 5882574 

### BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

ANSWER OF THE

EUROPEAN LOW FARES AIRLINE ASSOCIATION

TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

NOTICE SERVED ON 4 AUGUST 2014

IN S UPPORT OF APPLICATION BY NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED IN

ACCORDANCE WITH EU/U.S. OPEN SKIES AGREEMENT.

Docket No. OST

- 2013

- 0204

18 August 2014

The European L ow Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) strongly supports the position taken by the European Commission at the meeting between the US authorities and the Commission in Brussels on 14 July with regard to the interpretation of Article 17 bis of the Agreement. I n particular, ELFAA supports the Commission’s submission that Article 17 bis sets out certain principles but does not extend to a right for any one party to withhold an operating permit. Rather, in the event the concerns raised by one party are found by

bo th parties to be legitimate, then the matter should be referred for discussion in the Joint

Committee.

ELFAA believes that the legal text of the Agreement does not permit of any interpretation of Article 17 bis, which would justify a unilateral decision by one of the parties to withhold an operating permit to a carrier, already awarded a licence and operating permit by a properly

- designated approval authority of the other party.

ELFAA further considers that any such unilateral withholding by one party o f award of an operating permit to a carrier, already awarded a licence and operating permit by a designated approval body of the other party would constitute a direct breach of the mutual recognition of authorisations granted by the aeronautical authoritie s of the other party, as required by the Agreement.tel: +32 (0)2 504 90 05

– fax: +32 (0 )2 732 71 76

- info@elfaa.com

- www.elfaa.com

Registered address: 21

- 23, 1 st Floor, West Street, Oundle, Cambridgeshire, PE8 4EJ, United Kingdom Regis tered in England & Wales No. 5882574 

### In addition to the European Union, individual Member States are signatories to the Agreement. Neither the EU nor any member state has sought to challenge the authority granted by the US to any US carri er, taking up the freedoms freely conceded by each party under the Agreement. Unilateral breach of the Agreement, if not corrected, should rightly give rise to retaliatory action by the other, in the interest of not only stakeholders
but consumers, who wou ld be denied access to a more competitive market

– the very reason for the Agreement.

To avert a potential downward spiral of measure and counter

- measure, ELFAA urges the US side to honour its obligations under the Agreement and grant the requisite opera ting permit to Norwegian “with minimum procedural delay”, as required by the Agreement.

The Open Skies Agreement was born of a desire on both sides to liberalise market access for properly

- authorised operators from both sides, with the express aim of

intr oducing increased competition to the market, to the considerable benefit of consumers. Norwegian is excellently placed to introduce an innovative standard of service at affordable fare levels to the transatlantic air travel market, 87% of the offering

on w hich is controlled by carriers, belonging to one or other alliance. The US can rightly claim credit for blazing the trail with Open Skies Agreements, which have revolutionised

access to affordable air travel for millions of consumers. It is now time for th e US to demonstrate its continued commitment to Open Skies by granting an operating permit to a properly

- qualified market entrant to the transatlantic market, one committed to offering
an excellent, innovative standard of service to consumers at affordable prices.



### Sincerely,

John Hanlon
Secretary General, ELFAA

cc : romanow@pillsburylaw.com
peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

dan.weiss@coair.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com mlbenge@zsrlaw.com rpommer@atlasair.com russell.bailey@alpa.org jonathan.cohen@alpa.org edw@ttd.org clytle@portoakland.com kgeorg e@broward.org mrichardson@swapa.org

robert.wirick@aa.com

francis.heil@aa.com howard.kass@usairways. com jesse.elliot@faa.govtel: +32 (0)2 504 90 05

– fax: +32 (0 )2 732 71 76

- info@elfaa.com

- www.elfaa.com

Registered address: 21

- 23, 1 st Floor, West Street, Oundle, Cambridgeshire, PE8 4EJ, United Kingdom Regis tered in England & Wales No. 5882574 nicholas.tsokris@faa.gov john.chen@faa.gov john.allen@faa.gov

anita.mosner@hklaw.com# jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com nssparks@fe dex.com gbleopard@fedex.com dberg@airlines.org jcasey@air lines.or g kglatz@airlines.org cc@eurocockpit.be )

e james@jamhoff.co m englets@state.gov sshur@traveltech.org eugene.alford@trade.gov matthew.baldwin@ec.europa.eu

Emmanuelle.MAIR E@ec.europa.eu david.batchelor@eeas.europa.eu

ottar.ostnes @sd .dep.no paul.gretch@dot.gov robert.finamore@dot.gov