UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on November 18 , 2011



### NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN

-- DOCKET DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0168

________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________ This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no additional confirming order will be i ssued in this matter).

Joint Applicants: TACA INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES, S.A. (TACA) and LINEAS AEREAS COSTARRICENSES, S.A. (LACSA)

Applicant : AEROVIAS DEL CONTINENTE AMERICANO S.A. (Avianca)

Date Filed: September 7, 2011

Relief requested:

1) Exemption under 49 USC §4 0109 to the extent necessary to permit Avianca to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property, and mail from points behind Colombia, via Colombia and intermediate point s, on the one hand, and Chicago; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Houston; Los Angeles ; New York; Washington, D.C.; Orlando; and Miami, on the other hand, pursuant to its code

- shar e agreement with TACA and LACSA; and

2) Blanket s tatement s of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 for an indefinite period to permit TACA and LACSA to display the (AV*) designator code of Avianca on flights operated by TACA and LACSA between points in Central America and points in the United States, for the purpose of transporting Avianca’s Colombia

- U.S. traffic. 1 2

Applicant representative s : Charles F. Donley II and Edward W. Sauer

, 202

- 626

- 6840 (TACA and LACSA ) Richard D. Mathias and David M. Endersbee, 202

- 973

- 7917 (Avianca)

DOT analyst: Robert J. Finamore , 202

- 366

- 2405

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved. A ction date: November 18 , 2011

Effective dates of authority granted: The exemption authority granted to A vianca is effective Nov ember 18 , 2011, through November 18 , 2012

. The statements of authorization granted to TACA and LACSA are effective November

18 , 2011

, and shall remain in effect for an indefinite period , subject to conditions

.
Basis for approval (bil ateral agreement/reciprocity): U .S.

- Colombia, U .S.

- El Salvador, and U .S.

- Costa Rica A ir Transport Agreement s

.
Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard exemption conditions (attached as Appendix A) and code

- share conditions (attached as Appendix B )

.
Special conditions/Remarks: The exemption authority granted to Avianca is limited to operations conducted only on a code

- share basis with TACA and/or LACSA, on fligh ts operated by TACA and/or LACSA

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

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

1 TACA and LACSA state that no local Central America

- U.S. traffic will be transported under Avianca’s code under this

code

- share arrangement.

2 Initial code

- share markets are attached a s Appendix C

.Under authority assigned by the Departm ent in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with Department policy; (2) the applicants were qualified to perform the 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 Poli cy and Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted/deferre d/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 for th 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 effec tive when taken, and the filing of a petition for review will not alter su ch effectiveness.

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

### Appendix A

F oreign 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 wi th 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 holde r’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 I IR 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 c hanges 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 i t 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 te rm "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 author ized 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 re quired 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 w hen 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.

1 2 /200 7Appendix 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) TACA, LACSA, and Avianca continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate th e code

- share services at issue, and (ii) the code

- share agreement providing for the code

- share operations remains in effect.

(b ) TACA, LACSA and/or Avianca , as appropriate, must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new code

- s hare 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 notice shoul d be filed in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0168.

( c ) TACA, LACSA and/or Avianca , as appropriate

, must promptly notify the Department if the code

- share 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 notice should be filed in Docket DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0168

. 1

(d ) The code

- sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 C.F.R. 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 transportat ion 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 jou rney 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 TACA, LACSA, nor Avia nca shall give any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions.

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

1 We expect this notification to be received within ten (10) days after such non

- effectiveness or of such decision.Appendix C