UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on April 4, 2011

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2007-28896 

 DOCKET DOT-OST-2011-0058

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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).

Applicants: Croatia Airlines Date Filed: March, 4, 2011, as amended March 15, 2011

 Scandinavian Airlines System March 18, 2011

Relief requested:

Croatia Airlines— Renew exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of 

persons, property and mail from points behind Croatia, via Croatia and any intermediate points, to any point or points in 

the United States and beyond pursuant to a code-share agreement with United Air Lines; Inc. (United); and (2) amend the 

exemption authority to the extent necessary to allow it to code share with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in 

addition to United.1

If renewal, date and citation of last action: March 22, 2010, in this docket

Scandinavian Airlines System—Statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to the extent necessary to permit 

SAS to display Croatia Airlines’ OU* designator code on flights operated by SAS between (i) any point or points in the 

United States and any point or points in the European Union (on a nonstop basis and intermediate routings via open-skies 

points); (ii) a point or points in the United States and any other point or points in the European Common Aviation Area, 

where an open-skies agreement is being applied; (iii) EU points; and (iv) beyond the U.S. or EU to any point or points in 

conjunction with services between the United States and Croatia.

Applicant representatives: Croatia Airlines: David Heffernan (202) 663-6360 

 SAS: Michael Goldman (202 944-3300 

DOT Analyst: Shelita A. Johnson (202) 366-1226

Responsive pleadings: None filed

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved, subject to conditions (see below) Action date: April 4, 2011

Effective dates of exemption authority granted Croatia Airlines: April 4, 2011 – April 4, 2012 

Effective dates of statement of authorization authority granted SAS: April 4, 2011 – and will remain in effect indefinitely, 

subject to the conditions below.

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

 For SAS: U.S.-EU Agreement

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations indicated:

X Standard exemption conditions (attached

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) Croatia Airlines, United and SAS 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.

 

1 Croatia Airlines also has a pending request in Docket DOT-OST-2007-28895. We will act on the permit portion of its request 

separately.
(b) Croatia Airlines, United and SAS must promptly notify the Department (Office of International Aviation) if the codeshare agreement providing for the code-share operations is no longer effective or the carriers decide to cease operating 

any or all of the approved code-share services. We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such noneffectiveness or of such decision. Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2007-28896.

(c) Croatia Airlines, United and SAS must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new codeshare service under the code-share services authorized here. Such notice shall identify the market(s) to be served and the 

date on which the service will begin.2 Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2007-28896.

(d) The codesharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR Part 257 and with any 

amendments to the Department’s regulations concerning codeshare 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 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 codeshare 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; and 

(e) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Croatia Airlines, United nor SAS 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.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director

 Office of International Aviation

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Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) the applicant is 

qualified to perform the proposed operations; (2) our action was consistent with Department policy; (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 Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted/deferred/dismissed, 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

 

2

Pursuant to the Department’s Notice In the Matter of Blanket Notification of Code-Share Service to Open-Skies Partners and Points 

dated February 9, 2009, SAS has provided blanket notification of its intent to engage in code share services beginning on or about 

April 1, 2011, between open-skies points as outlined in its application.
12/2007

Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) 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 (AFS-260), 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 its homeland;

(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.