Served: January 30, 2014

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

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

Docket DOT-OST-2013-0204

NOTICE

During the course of U.S.-EU Joint Committee discussions in Washington on January 8, 2014, held 

pursuant to the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement, the U.S. delegation requested information about the 

current and planned long-haul operations of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and its affiliated companies, 

Norwegian Long Haul AS and Norwegian Air International Limited. The European delegation orally 

responded to the U.S. delegation’s request. Members of the U.S. delegation present for the European 

delegation’s response subsequently prepared a written summary of that response on the mutual 

understanding that the summary would be submitted on the record of the present proceeding. 

Accordingly, the summary of the information provided by the European delegation is attached.

In light of Norwegian Air International Limited’s ongoing application in this Docket, we establish the 

following procedural schedule for public comments on the attached Summary:

1

Answers – must be filed no later than 14 calendar days from the date of issuance of this Notice;

Replies – must be filed no later than 7 calendar days after the last day for filing an answer.

We will serve this Notice on all persons on the service list for this docket. 

By: 

PAUL L. GRETCH

Director, Office of International Aviation

Date: January 30, 2014

(SEAL) 

An electronic version of this document is available at http://www.regulations.gov 

 1 Given the extensive comments that have already been submitted regarding this application, we ask interested parties to 

limit any further comments to responding to the information contained in the Summary.
Summary of Information provided by the European delegation

On the basis of information provided by Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (“NAS”), the European

delegation gave the Joint Committee some detailed factual information about the company’s 

plans.

The European delegation first stated that NAS and its subsidiary Norwegian Long Haul AS 

(“NLH”) each holds an Air Operator’s Certificate (“AOC”) and operating license issued by the 

Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority. NLH operates two Irish-registered aircraft under its

Norwegian AOC. 

Another NAS subsidiary, Norwegian Air International Limited (“NAI”), has applied for an Irish 

AOC and operating license. The European delegation conveyed that NAI chose Ireland because 

as an Irish carrier it would have access to significant additional traffic rights not available to it as 

a Norwegian carrier, access to additional financing options under OECD rules, and access to 

insurance and financing rebates because Ireland is a Cape Town Convention signatory. In 

addition, Ireland has a considerable aviation cluster in Europe and a highly regarded aviation 

authority. The Irish government is currently processing the applications pursuant to 

EC Regulations 965/2012 and 1008/2008. The application for an AOC is being processed by the 

Irish Civil Aviation Authority, and the application for an operating license is being processed by 

the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation. A decision on the AOC application, which is at a 

more advanced stage, is expected in the next few weeks. 

Under Norwegian regulations, an airline is allowed to operate an aircraft registered in another 

ECAA state for a total of 12 months. The current licenses issued by the Norwegian Civil 

Aviation Authority to NLH to operate two Irish-registered aircraft are set to expire in February 

2014 and April 2014, respectively. NLH could apply to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority 

for extensions of the licenses that would allow it to continue to operate the Irish-registered 

aircraft until 24th June 2014 and 24th August 2014, respectively. If the Irish regulatory process is 

still pending for NAI after February 2014, it is likely that NLH would request extension of its 

Norwegian-issued licenses.
Summary of Information provided by the European delegation

2

The NLH/NAI business model will focus on using operating bases in the United States and Asia 

to serve several European destinations, with most having just one or two weekly flights in each 

city-pair market. Given this business model, basing crews outside of Europe makes more sense 

economically. In order to address the related and complex staffing issues, the carriers intend to 

hire and domicile crews at operating bases outside of the Europe (e.g., in Thailand generally for 

Bangkok-Europe flights, in the United States for U.S.-Europe flights, etc). In each case, the 

local labor laws of those countries would apply.

For the start-up period, NLH and NAI use local hiring agencies at operating bases because 

recruitment is quicker, the agencies are familiar with local laws and regulations, and the practice 

minimizes the companies’ investment costs. In accordance with EU regulations, the pilots 

employed by NLH and NAI must hold EASA licenses. NAI intends to hire U.S. pilots in the 

future and would prefer to have crew bases in the United States for its U.S. operations. It is 

currently training cabin crew members that will be based in the United States, under U.S. law. 

Currently, long-haul pilots are employed by Global Crew Asia (Singapore) and cabin crew 

members are employed by Adecco (Thailand). 

In connection with the discussion about hiring, the European delegation offered the salary 

information below. These figures reflect dollarized average gross payments:

Norway Spain Thailand United States

Captain $168,604.29 $161,129.02 $166,117.34 -

First Officer $119,513.47 $100,126.94 $101,724.49 -

Senior Cabin Crew - $29,343.57 $37,477.06 $37,497.16

Junior Cabin Crew - $24,664.89 $31,875.26 $34,384.75

The European Delegation also indicated that company employees are organized in labor unions 

and that NAS had no tradition of discouraging unionization.
Summary of Information provided by the European delegation

3

The European Delegation objected to any characterization of Ireland as a “flag of convenience,” 

and stated that Ireland’s safety and fitness oversight meets all applicable ICAO and EU 

standards. They stated that, under Article 6 bis of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement 

(Reciprocal Recognition of Fitness and Citizenship Determinations), the U.S. should recognize 

Ireland’s determinations regarding NAI. The European delegation further stated that the 

European Commission welcomed the competition that NAS/NLH has provided in the EU market

and noted that its business model, if successful, will benefit competition, U.S. consumers and 

U.S. manufacturers.
U.S.-EU Joint Committee

8 January 2014

Washington, D.C.

1

U.S. Delegation

Department of State

1. Mr. Krishna Urs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs

2. Mr. Stephen Cristina, Director, Office of Aviation Negotiations

3. Ms. Megan Walklet-Tighe, Director, Office of Transportation Policy

4. Ms. Ellen Dunlap, Aviation Team Leader, Office of Transportation Policy

5. Ms. Alina Eldred, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the Legal Adviser 

6. Ms. Kristin Westphal, International Civil Aviation Officer, Office of Aviation Negotiations

Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary

7. Mr. Paul Gretch, Director, Office of International Aviation

8. Mr. Brian Hedberg, Assistant Director for Negotiations, Office of International Aviation

9. Mr. John Kiser, Chief of Pricing and Multilateral Affairs, Office of International Aviation 

10. Mr. Reese Davidson, Air Services Negotiator, Office of International Aviation

11. Mr. Benjamin Taylor, Air Services Negotiator, Office of International Aviation

12. Mr. Christopher T. “Kip” Tourtellot, Attorney-Advisor, Office of International Law 

13. Ms. Jennifer Thibodeau, Attorney-Advisor, Office of International Law

14. Mr. Todd Homan, Director, Office of Aviation Analysis

Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration

15. Mr. Kevin Welsh, Acting Manager, Environmental Policy and Operations Division, Office of 

Environment and Energy 

16. Ms. Rebecca Barthel, Foreign Affairs Specialist, Office of International Affairs 

Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration

17. Mr. David Gordner, Regional Manager Europe, Office of Global Strategies

18. Ms. Lauren Beyer, Desk Officer Europe, Office of Global Strategies

Department of Commerce

19. Mr. Eugene Alford, Air Transport Specialist
U.S.-EU Joint Committee

8 January 2014

Washington, D.C.

2

EU Delegation

European Commission

1. Mr. Matthew Baldwin, DG MOVE, Director, Aviation and International Transport Affairs

2. Ms. Elina Bardram, DG CLIMA, Head of Unit

3. Ms. Deniz Bayraktutar, DG MOVE, Policy Officer, International Transport Affairs

4. Mr. Daniel Beoshertz, DG COMP, Head of Unit

5. Mr. Timothy Fenoulhet, DG MOVE, Policy Officer, Aviation Safety

6. Mr. Christian Holzleitner, DG CLIMA

7. Ms. Rasa Sceponaviciute, DG CLIMA

European External Action Service

8. Dr. Felix Leinemann, First Secretary-Transport, Delegation of the European Union to the 

United States

9. Mr Julian Hall, European Aviation Safety Agency, Representative to the United States

EU Member States 

10. Ms. Verena Brendl, Austrian Civil Aviation Authority

11. Mr. Thorkild Saxe, Senior Adviser, Danish Transport Authority

12. Ms. Päivi Jämsä, Special Advisor, Finnish Transport Safety Agency

13. Mr. Francois Theoleyre, Deputy Director, French Civil Aviation Authority

14. Mr. Bruno Fulda, Advisor, French Civil Aviation Authority

15. Mr. Helge Pols, Embassy of Germany, Washington

16. Ms. Ethna Brogan, Principal Officer, Irish Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

17. Mr. Hans de Jong, Chief Negotiator, Netherlands Directorate General of Civil Aviation

18. Mr. Žiga Kotnik, Director General, Slovenian Civil Aviation Agency

19. Mr. David Benito Astudillo, Head of International Agreements, Spanish Directorate General 

of Civil Aviation

20. Ms. Monica Junquera Lantero, Embassy of Spain, Washington

21. Mr. Mark Bosly, Head of International Aviation Negotiations, United Kingdom Department 

of Transport

22. Ms. Judith Ritchie, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington

23. Mr. Øyvind Ek, Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications

24. Mr. Anders Stoltenberg Slettvold, Senior Advisor, Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority