UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on August 24, 2010

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN – DOCKETS DOT-OST-2003-16219 and DOT-OST-2010-0199 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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: AER LINGUS LIMITED (Aer Lingus) and SPANAIR, S.A. (Spanair)

Date Filed: August 5, 2010

Relief requested: Amendment of exemption from 49 USC § 41301 to permit Spanair to provide scheduled foreign air 

transportation of persons, property, and mail, through code-share service, with Aer Lingus, between any point or points in 

any Member State of the European Community, on the one hand, and any point or points in the U.S. and beyond to any 

point or points in third countries, on the other hand.1

Blanket statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Aer Lingus to display the (JK*) designator code of 

Spanair on Aer Lingus flights in conjunction with foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail: (i) between 

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) between a point or points in the United States and any other point or 

points in the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), where an open-skies agreement is being applied; (iii) between 

EU points; and (iv) beyond the U.S. or EU to any point or points.2

Applicant representatives: Charles A. Hunnicutt (Aer Lingus), 202-274-2957 and 

Michael F. Goldman (Spanair), 202-944-3305

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

Responsive pleadings: None

DISPOSITION

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

Effective dates of authority granted: Spanair’s exemption authority is effective from August 24, 2010, through

August 24, 2012. The statement of authorization granted to Aer Lingus is effective August 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.

 1 Spanair holds exemption authority in Docket DOT-OST-2003-16219 to place its “JK” code on flights operated by U.S. carriers with 

which it has a code-share agreement. It here requests amendment of that authority to also permit code-share services with Aer Lingus. 

We note that Spanair’s existing code-share exemption authority, to which it now seeks to add Aer Lingus, is more limited than the 

scope of the statement of authorization requested here by Aer Lingus and reflected in the joint applicants’ blanket code-share 

notification. See footnote 2. Spanair would accordingly need additional exemption authority to make full use of the code-share 

services outlined in the blanket notification. 2 The joint applicants provided blanket notification of their intent to code share on flights (a) between 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); (b) between 

a point or points in the United States and any other point or points in the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), where an openskies agreement is being applied; (c) between European union points; and (d) beyond the United States or European Union to any 

open-skies point or points.
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

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 statement of authorization is subject to the following conditions:

(a) The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long as (i) Aer Lingus and Spanair 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) Aer Lingus and/or Spanair 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 and the date 

on which the service will begin. Such notices should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0199; 

(c) Aer Lingus and/or Spanair must notify the Department immediately if the code-share agreement under which 

these code-share services are operated is no longer in effect 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-OST-2010-0199;

1

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR Part 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 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; and that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected;

(e) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Aer Lingus nor Spanair shall give any force or 

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

(f) 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.