BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

DREAMJET SAS )

) Docket No. OST-2014-0063

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 )

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to )

49 U.S.C. § 41301 (US-EU Open Skies) )

_________________________________________ )

ANSWER OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Josh Romanow

Peter Nelson

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP

2300 N Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20037

Tel: (202) 663-8000

Fax: (202) 663-8007

E-mail: romanow@pillsburylaw.com

E-mail: peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

May 6, 2014 Counsel for NORWEGIAN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
BEFORE THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

DREAMJET SAS )

) Docket No. OST-2014-0063

for an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 )

and a foreign air carrier permit pursuant to )

49 U.S.C. § 41301 (US-EU Open Skies) )

_________________________________________ )

ANSWER OF NORWEGIAN AIR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Norwegian Air International Limited (“Norwegian International”) 1 hereby 

submits the following answer to the application of Dreamjet SAS (“Dreamjet”) for an 

exemption and foreign air carrier permit. As discussed herein, Norwegian International 

fully supports the prompt grant of Dreamjet’s exemption and permit as soon as Dreamjet 

has completed its application by submitting its French Air Operator Certificate and 

Operating License (“French Authority”), in accordance with the Department’s 

streamlined procedures.

2

 

As it has emphasized in its application pending before the Department, 3

Norwegian International strongly supports full recognition of EU air carriers by the 

 1 Norwegian International is an interested party in this proceeding, as it is seeking substantially similar

open skies authority from the Department for scheduled service between the European Union and the 

United States. See FN 3, below. 2 See Application Procedures for Foreign Air Carriers of the European Union (Feb. 19, 2009) available at 

http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/Application%20Procedures%20for%20EU%20carriers-02-

19-2009.pdf (the “Streamlined Procedures”). 3

 Application of Norwegian Air International, Limited for an exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and a 

foreign air carrier permit pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41301 (US-EU Open Skies) Docket No. OST--2013-
Department as provided by the U.S.-EU “Open Skies” Air Transport Agreement. 

Equally important, Norwegian strongly supports new competition to the highly

concentrated transatlantic market, one in which the members of the three major airline 

alliances control some 87% of traffic. Norwegian International urges the Department to 

act to immediately to grant the exemption and foreign air carrier permit authority for 

which Norwegian International has applied. No basis for further delay exists.

As a matter of law and principle, the Dreamjet application should be approved 

promptly—“with minimal procedural delay” upon submission of its French authority —

in accordance with (1) Article 4 of the Open Skies Agreement; (2) the reciprocal 

recognition provisions of Article 6 bis; and (3) the DOT streamlined procedures as they 

have been applied in every case since the inception of the Open Skies Agreement —

every case except that of Norwegian International. Five months have elapsed since 

Norwegian filed its application on December 2, 2013, and the application remains 

pending to this date, almost three months after Norwegian International submitted its Air 

Operator Certificate and Operating License issued in February 2014. Since the adoption 

of the 2007 U.S.–EU Open Skies Agreement, Norwegian International is the only EU 

carrier to have been subjected to such unprecedented scrutiny and delay – precisely the 

kind of administrative and regulatory burden the agreement and associated streamlined 

procedures adopted by the Joint Committee were intended to eliminate. Indeed, virtually 

every prior similar application by an EU carrier, once complete, has been granted in an 

average of month after the answer period expires. 

 0204. Norwegian International filed its similar application for an exemption and foreign air carrier 

permit under the EU-U.S. Open Skies Agreement in December 2013. 
Norwegian International urges the Department to follow its earlier precedents and 

to meet the United States’ international legal obligations by promptly granting

Dreamjet’s application. No basis exists for the Department to subject any EU carrier that 

complies with the requirements under the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement and the 

Department’s streamlined procedures to the type of unprecedented delays and very real 

consumer and commercial consequences from the delay that Norwegian International has 

experienced. Prompt approval of both applications will send a strong signal to America’s

European partners that the Department intends to respect the requirements of the U.S.-EU

Open Skies Agreement. 

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, Norwegian International respectfully 

requests that the Department approve the Dreamjet application, once completed, and also 

immediately approve the long-pending and complete application of Norwegian International.

Respectfully submitted,

Josh Romanow Peter Nelson

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP

2300 N Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20037

Tel: (202) 663-8000

Fax: (202) 663-8007

romanow@pillsburylaw.com

peter.nelson@pillsburylaw.com

May 6, 2014 Counsel for NORWEGIAN AIR 

INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that on May 6, 2014, a true and correct copy of the 

foregoing Answer of Norwegian Air International Limited was served by electronic mail 

on the individuals identified below:

Steve Morrissey

Dan Weiss

United Airlines

steve.morrissey@united.com

dan.weiss@united.com

Sascha Vanderbellen

Chris Walker

Delta Airlines

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

chris.walker@delta.com

Malcolm L. Benge

Counsel for North American

mlbenge@zsrlaw.com

Russell E. Pommer

Atlas Air Inc.

rpommer@atlasair.com

Russell Bailey

Jonathan A. Cohen

Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l

russell.bailey@alpa.org

jonathan.cohen@alpa.org

Robert Wirick

Howard Kass

American Airlines, Inc.

robert.wirick@aa.com

howard.kass@aa.com

Nick Tsokris

Harvey Siegel

FAA New York IFU

nicholas.tsokris@faa.gov

Havey.siegel@faa.gov

Anita Mosner

Jennifer Nowak

Counsel for UPS

Holland & Knight

anita.mosner@hklaw.com

jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com

Nancy S. Sparks

Bailey Leopard

Federal Express Corporation

nssparks@fedex.com

gbleopard@fedex.com

Krishna Urs

Department of State

urskr@state.gov

Eugene Alford

Department of Commerce

eugene.alford@trade.gov

Paul Gretch

Robert Finamore

U.S. Department of 

Transportation

paul.gretch@dot.gov

Robert.Finamore@dot.gov

Matthew Baldwin

Director of Air Transport

European Commission

Matthew.Baldwin@ec.europa.eu

Dr. Felix Leinemann

First Secretary

Delegation of the European 

Union to the USA 

Felix.LEINEMANN@eeas.euro

pa.eu

David Batchelor

SJU Liason Officer

SESAR Joint Undertaking

Delegation of the European 

Union to the USA

David.Batchelor@sesarju.eu

Michael Goldman

Counsel for DreamJet

Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff

mgoldman@sgbdc.com

Kevin Commy, Deputy Chief of 

Mission

Alan Gibbons, First Secretary 

Economics

Embassy of Ireland

Kevin.conmy@dfa.ie

Alan.gibbons@dfa.ie

Donal Handley

Head of Corporate Affairs

Irish Aviation Authority

donal.handley@iaa.ie

Mark W. Atwood

Cozen O’Connor

Counsel for Kalitta Air

matwood@cozen.com

John L. Richardson

Counsel for Amerjet 

International

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com

Joan Canny

jcanny@amerijet.com

John R. Mietus

Law Office of John Mietus LLC

Counsel for Centurion Air Cargo

and Trade Winds Airlines

john@mietuslaw.com

Marshall S. Sincik

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

Counsel for Florida West 

International Airways

msinick@ssd.com

Aaron Goerlich

Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach 

Counsel for Southern Air

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com

Charles Hill

Air Transport International

chuck.hill@airtransport.cc

Bradley Rubinstein

Manager, Industry and 

Regulatory Relations

Port Authority of New York and 

New Jersey

brubinst@panynj.com

Deputy Director

Flight Standards Service

Federal Aviation Administration

john.s.duncan@faa.gov

/s/Melinda Hernandez

Melinda Hernandez