UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on May 24, 2010

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKET DOT-OST-2010-0087 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no additional 

confirming order will be issued in this matter).

Joint Applicants: AIR NOSTRUM LINEAS AEREAS DEL MEDITERRANEO, S.A. (Air Nostrum)

Date Filed: April 6, 2010 

Relief requested: Exemption from 49 USC § 41301 to the extent necessary to permit Air Nostrum to display the (AA*) 

designator code of American Airlines, Inc. (American) on flights within Spain, and between Spain and third countries 

pursuant to the code-share agreement between American and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A. (Iberia).

Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Air Nostrum to display the (AA*) designator code of 

American on flights within Spain, and between Spain and third countries pursuant to Iberia’s code-share agreement with 

American.1

Applicant representatives: William Karas and Carol Gosain, 202-429-6223

DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger, 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved, subject to conditions Action date: May 24, 2010

Effective dates of authority granted: Air Nostrum’s exemption authority is effective from May 24, 2010, through

May 24, 2012. The statement of authorization granted to Air Nostrum is effective May 24, 2010, and will remain in effect 

for an indefinite duration, subject to conditions. 

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard 

foreign air carrier exemption conditions attached as Appendix A and codeshare conditions attached as Appendix B.

Special conditions/Remarks: Based on the record in this case, we found that Air Nostrum is operationally and financially 

qualified to conduct the proposed services, and that it is substantially owned and effectively controlled in a manner 

consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-EU Agreement.

2

 Also, on May 19, 2010, the FAA advised us that it 

knows of no reason to withhold this authority.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director Office of International Aviation

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with 

Department policy; (2) the applicant was qualified to perform their proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent with 

the public interest; and (4) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy Policy and 

 1 The applicant provided blanket notification of its intent to place the AA* designator code on its flights (a) between points in Spain; 

(b) between points in the European Union; (c) between points in Spain and points in the European Common Aviation Area where an 

open-skies agreement is being applied; and (d) beyond the European Common Aviation Area where an open-skies agreement is being 

applied; and (d) beyond the European Union to any open-skies points (including Morocco). 2 We make this finding based on the Procedures for Reciprocal Recognition of Regulatory Determinations with Regard to Airline 

Fitness and Citizenship, adopted by the U.S.-EU Joint Committee on January 12, 2009. 
Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted, we denied all requests in the referenced Docket. We may amend, modify, or 

revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR 

§385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of issuance of this Notice. This action was effective when taken, 

and the filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov
Appendix A

Foreign Air Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such 

operations, and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security 

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited 

to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all 

applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service 

(including charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United 

States, contact its International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security 

Inspector) to advise the IIR of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has 

determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a 

completed OST Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS260), Flight Standards Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least 

equivalent to Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements 

of 14 CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except 

that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in a 

Member State of the European Union;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and charter 

data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply with 

the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be 

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions imposed 

above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval under Title 

49 of the U.S. Code.

EU carrier 01/2008
Appendix B

The code-share operations authorized here are subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) American and Air Nostrum continue to hold the 

necessary underlying authority to operate the code-share services at issue, and (ii) the code-share agreement providing 

for the code-share operations remains in effect.

(b) American and/or Air Nostrum must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) if the codeshare agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or if the carriers decide to cease 

operating all or a portion of the approved code-share services. Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST2010-0087.

1

(c) American and/or Air Nostrum must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new code-share 

service under the code-share services authorized here. Such notice shall identify the market(s) to be served, which 

carrier will be operating the aircraft in the code-share market added, and the date on which the service will begin. Such 

notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0087.

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 257 and with any amendments 

to the Department’s regulations concerning code-share arrangements that may be adopted. Notwithstanding any 

provisions in the contract between the carriers, our approval here is expressly conditioned upon the requirements that 

the subject foreign air transportation be sold in the name of the carrier holding out such service in the computer 

reservation systems and elsewhere; that the carrier selling such transportation (i.e., the carrier shown on the ticket) 

accept responsibility for the entirety of the code-share journey for all obligations established in its contract of carriage 

with the passenger; that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected; and that the operating carrier shall 

not permit the code of its U.S. code-sharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs, or transits the 

airspace of any area for whose airspace the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition.

(e) Any service provided shall be consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-EU agreement, and all applicable agreements 

with other foreign countries involved. Furthermore, (i) nothing in the award of the blanket statement of authorization 

should be construed as conferring upon American rights (including code-share, fifth-freedom intermediate and/or 

beyond rights) to serve markets where U.S. carrier rights are limited unless American notifies us of its intent to serve 

such market and unless and until the Department has completed any necessary carrier selection procedures to 

determine which carrier(s) should be authorized to exercise such rights;2 and (ii) should there be a request by any 

carrier to use the limited-entry route rights that are included in American’s authority by virtue of the blanket statement 

of authorization granted here, but that are not being used by American, the holding of such authority will not be 

considered as providing any preference for American in a carrier selection proceeding to determine which carrier(s) 

should be entitled to use the authority at issue;

(f) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither American nor Air Nostrum shall give any force or 

effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions.

We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.

 1 We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision. 2 The notice referenced in condition (c) above may be used for this notification.