UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on April 23, 2013

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET DOT-OST-2013-0078 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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).

Applicant: Flybe Finland, Oy (Flybe Finland) Date Filed: April 16, 2013

Relief requested: Exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 and statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to the extent 

necessary to engage in code-share operations under which Flybe Finland would carry the (AA*) designator code of 

American Airlines, Inc. (American) on flights Flybe Finland operates to points within the European Union (EU) and 

European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), as well as to points beyond the EU and ECAA countries.1

Flybe Finland requests that its exemption be granted for at least two years and its statement of authorization be granted 

for an indefinite period.

If renewal, date and citation of last action: New authority

Applicant representatives: Evelyn D. Sahr & James G. Ehrig (202) 659-6606 

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

Responsive pleadings: None filed

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved Action date: April 23, 20132

Effective dates of exemption authority granted: April 23, 2013 – April 23, 2015

The statement of authorization granted to Flybe Finland is effective April 23, 2013, and will remain in effect for an 

indefinite period.3

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 

exemption conditions attached as Appendix A and to the code-share conditions attached as Appendix B.

Special conditions/ Remarks: Based on the record in this case, we found that Flybe Finland is operationally and 

financially qualified to conduct the proposed services, and that it is substantially owned and effectively controlled in a 

manner consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-EU Agreement.4

 We note that the applicant is properly licensed by its 

homeland to perform the proposed services.

 1 The applicant states that it will not operate flights to the United States, nor place its designator code on American’s flights to the 

United States.

2 The Department is acting on the exemption and statement of authorization requests of the applicant prior to the expiration of the 

respective answer periods with the consent of all parties served.

3 We will grant, sua sponte, Flybe a waiver of the advance filing requirement under 14 CFR 212.10(d)(2),as no party opposed the 

request.

4 We make this finding based on Article 2 (Reciprocal Recognition of Regulatory Determinations with Regard to Airline Fitness and

Citizenship) of the Protocol to amend the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement, signed June 24, 2010.
We also note that American has conducted a safety audit of Flybe Finland under the Department’s Code-Share Safety 

Audit Program, and the FAA has advised us that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be acceptable. 

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) 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
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 (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 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 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) Flybe Finland and American 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) Flybe Finland and/or American must promptly notify the Department if the code-share agreement providing for the 

code-share operations is no longer effective or the carriers decide to cease operating the approved code-share services. 

Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0078.

(c) Flybe Finland and/or American 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 services will begin. Such notices shall be filed in Docket DOT-OST-2013-0078.

(d) The code-sharing operations conducted under this authority must comply with 14 CFR 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 the 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; 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.

(e) The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that neither Flybe Finland nor American Airlines shall give 

any force or effect to any contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these conditions.

(f) We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted at any time without hearing at our discretion.