Order 2014-3-19

U N I T E D S

T A T E S O F A

M E R I C A D E P A R T M E N T O F T R A N S P O R T A T

I O N UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation On March 28, 2014

Served: March 28, 2014

In the matter of

THE IMPOSITION OF UNJUST USER CHARGES AT

ITALIAN AIRPORTS

under Section 41310(c) of the International Air Transportation Fair Competitiv e Practices Act, as amended Docket DOT-OST-2013-0038

ORDER TERMINATING PROCEEDINGS

By this Order, we terminate the captioned proceedi ng as the matters raised by Order to Show Cause, Order 2013-3-1, issued March 15, 2 013, have been resolved.

In Order 2013-3-1, we tentatively found that certain user charges imposed at Italian airports had an unjust discriminatory effect on U. S. carriers, violating the U.S. -EU Air Transport Agreement and warranting remedial action under the International Air Tran sportation Fair Competitive Practices Act (IATFCPA). 1 Under the terms of the Order, we proposed to impose certain opera tional restrictions on Italian-flag carrier Alitalia-Compagnia Aerea Ita liana S.p.A. (Alitalia), to remedy the effect of differentiated charges imposed on U. S. carriers at Italian airports. 2 We received an objection from Alitalia-Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.p.A., and comments in support of the Department’s action from American Airlines, Inc., United Ai r Lines, Inc., US Airways, Inc., and Airlines for America, in accordance with the procedural schedule outlined in the Order.

As a result of consultations in the U.S.-EU Joint Committee, the Italian authorities announced that they would implement new practices with respect to ai rport charging policies. By letter to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs at the Department of State dated February 27, 2014, the European Commission has confirme d that the Italian authorities have implemented the necessary

1 See Order 2013-3-1, issued March 15, 2013, in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0038.

2 As explained in Order 2013-3-1, the differentiated charges resulted from higher take-off and landing fees imposed by Italian airport authorities for extra-EU-originating flights as oppo sed to intra-EU flights. U. S. carriers operate only extraEU-originating flights to Italian airports and were theref ore disproportionately impact ed by the user charges.measures to eliminate the discriminatory charges. 3 With these new practices, all issues raised in the captioned complaint have been fully resolved. Unde r these circumstances, we will terminate, as moot, the proceeding in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0038.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We terminate, as moot, the proceeding in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0038; and

2. We will serve this order on certificated U.S. air carriers operating large aircraft; foreign air carriers of the EU licensed by the Department to operate scheduled combination air services; the U.S. Department of State; the Assistant U. S. Trade Representative (Europe), Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the U.S. Departme nt of Commerce; the Ambassador of Italy in Washington, D.C., and the Ambassador of the European Union in Washington, D.C.

By:

SUSAN L. KURLAND Assistant Secretary for

Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at: www.regulations.gov

3 A copy of that letter has been placed in this docket.