BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

Joint Application of

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

and

GULF AIR COMPANY, G.S.C

under l4 CFR Part 2l2 for statements of authorization

and under 49 USC 41109 for related exemption

(blanket code-sharing)

Docket DOT-OST-2008-0195

APPLICATION OF

GULF AIR COMPANY

FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION

Communications with respect to

this document should be sent to:

Moffett B. Roller

ROLLER & BAUER, PLLC

Washington Dulles International Airport

45005 Aviation Drive; Suite 200

Dulles, VA 20166

Phone: (202) 331-3300

Fax: (202) 331-3322

Email: mroller@rollerbauer.com

Attorneys for

Gulf Air Company

August 3, 2010

NOTICE: Answers supporting or opposing this Application are due on or before

August 18, 2010.
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, DC

Joint Application of

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

and

GULF AIR COMPANY, G.S.C

under l4 CFR Part 2l2 for statements of authorization

and under 49 USC 41109 for related exemption

(blanket code-sharing)

Docket DOT-OST-2008-0195

August 3, 2010

APPLICATION OF

GULF AIR COMPANY

FOR RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION

Gulf Air Company hereby applies for renewal of its exemption from 49 U.S.C.

§ 41301 to permit Gulf Air to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons,

property, and mail from points behind Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar, on the one

hand, via points in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar and via intermediate points, to

a point or points in the United States and beyond, on the other hand, pursuant to a

codesharing arrangement with American Airlines. Pursuant to the authority granted by

this exemption Gulf Air places its GF* designator code on flights operated by American

or American Eagle.

DOT granted this exemption to Gulf Air on August 4, 2008, in its Notice of

Action Taken in this docket granting the Joint Application of American Airlines and Gulf

Air for reciprocal statements of authorization for blanket code-sharing and for the

corresponding exemption authority for Gulf Air. The statements of authorization to
Application of Gulf Air Company Page 2

for Renewal of Exemption

1/ Gulf Air hereby invokes 5 U.S.C. § 558(c), as implemented by 14 C.F.R. § 377, to continue the

present exemption in effect until the Department makes a determination on this Application for Renewal.

2/ The American-Gulf Air Codeshare Agreement is on file in No. 98-104 (undocketed).

3/ Gulf Air is currently owned by the Government of Bahrain. Although the Governments of Abu

Dhabi, Oman, and Qatar no longer hold ownership interests in Gulf Air, the terms of the open skies Air

Transport Agreements between the United States and the United Arab Emirates (of which Abu Dhabi is a

constituent emirate), Oman, and Qatar are identical to those of the Agreement between the United States

and Bahrain. As the Department has previously approved in this docket and in others (see, e.g.,

DOT-OST-2005-20097), Gulf Air requests, based on its longstanding history of operations to Abu Dhabi,

Oman, and Qatar, that its renewed codeshare exemption authority continue to include Abu Dhabi, Oman,

and Qatar as coterminal points with Bahrain.

American and to Gulf Air have indefinite effectiveness subject to specified conditions.

The exemption to Gulf Air expires on August 4, 2010.1/

Renewal of the authority in question is in the public interest because it will allow

Gulf Air and American to continue to provide competitive air travel options between the

United States and the Persian Gulf region pursuant to the long-standing codesharing

agreement between the two companies.2/

Renewal of the exemption to Gulf Air continues to be fully consistent with

applicable open skies agreements. The Air Transport Agreement between the United

States and the Kingdom of Bahrain authorizes airlines of Bahrain, such as Gulf Air, “to

perform scheduled international air transportation” “[f]rom points behind Bahrain, via

Bahrain, and intermediate points to a point or points in the United States and beyond.”

Annex I, Section 1, Route B.1, of the U.S.-Bahrain Air Transport Agreement.3/

The Air Transport Agreement further provides, in Article 8(7), that a designated

airline of one party "may enter into cooperative marketing arrangements such as blockedspace, code-sharing or leasing arrangements" with an airline of the other party. The Air

Transport Agreement anticipates that each party -- in this case the Government of the
Application of Gulf Air Company Page 3

for Renewal of Exemption

United States -- will grant the authority that is necessary for carriers of the other party to

implement “code-sharing arrangements.” Renewal of Gulf Air’s exemption is thus

necessary for Gulf Air to continue to provide its bilaterally-authorized codeshare service.

Renewal of Gulf Air’s exemption authority is also consistent with the

Department's established policy of authorizing broad codesharing partnerships in open

sky regimes. See, e.g., Department Action, DOT-OST-99-6547, January 7, 2000

(American/Lan Chile); Department Action, DOT-OST-99-6544, January 7, 2000

(American/Finnair); Order 98-4-8, April 5, l998 (United/ Lufthansa); and Order 2010-7-

8, July 20, 2010 (American/British Airways).

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, it is in the public interest for the Department of

Transportation to renew the exemption granted to Gulf Air to conduct scheduled foreign

air transportation of persons, property, and mail from points behind Abu Dhabi, Bahrain,

Oman, and Qatar, on the one hand, via points in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar

and via intermediate points, to a point or points in the United States and beyond, on the

other hand, pursuant to a codesharing arrangement with American Airlines.

Respectfully submitted,

ROLLER & BAUER, PLLC

Attorneys for Gulf Air Company

By: ______________________

Moffett B. Roller

August 3, 2010
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that a copy of the Application of Gulf Air for Renewal of Exemption was

this day served by email upon the following parties.

__________________________

Moffett Roller

August 3, 2010

scott.mcclain@delta.com

sametta.c.barnett@delta.com

kquinn@pillsburywinthrop.com

bkeiner@crowell.com

hkamen@coair.com

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

bruce.rabinovitz@wilmerhale.com

jeffrey.manley@united.com

bob.kneisley@wnco.com

robert.land@jetblue.com

msinick@ssd.com

cdonley@ssd.com

anbird@fedex.com

dvaughan@kelleydrye.com

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com

lhalloway@crowell.com

efaberman@wileyrein.com

howardkass@usairways.com

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com

jhill@dlalaw.com

bill@mietuslaw.com

mgoldman@sgbdc.com

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com

mcmillin@woa.com

eskraft@jamhoff.com

dpdean@jamhoff.com

russell.bailey@alpa.org

dkirstein@yklaw.com

jyoung@yklaw.com

donna.kooperstein@usdoj.gov

dwight.moore@ustranscom.mil

jim.ballough@faa.gov

byerlyjr@state.gov