UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on Apri l 23, 201 3



### NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN

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- O ST

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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ 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 exte nt 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 Ar ea (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 a ction: New authority

Applicant representative s : Evelyn D. Sahr & James G. Ehrig (202) 659

- 6606

DOT Analyst: Shelita A. Johnson (202) 366

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Responsive pleadings: None filed

DISPOSIT ION

Action: Approved Action date : April 23, 2013 2

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 fo r 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 condition s 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 o f 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 W e m a k e t h is f i n d i n g b a s ed o n A r ticle 2 ( R eci pro cal R ec og n iti o n o f R e g u lat o r y Dete r mi n ati o n s w i t h R e g a r d to A i r l i n e Fit n e s s a n d

C itiz e n s h i p ) o f t h e P ro t o c o l to a m e n d t h e U

. S

. - E U A ir T r a ns por t A g r e e m e n t, s i g n ed J un e 24

, 20 1 0.We also note that American h as 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 qualifie d 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 P olicy 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.

Perso ns 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 effecti ve 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.govAppendix 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 Depart ment;

(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 wo uld 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 Trans portation 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 un der 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 transpo rtation" 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 condi tions 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 01/2008Appendix B

The code

- share operations authorized here are subject to the foll owing 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 p roviding

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 ope rating the approved code

- share services.

Such notice should be filed in Docket DOT

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(c) Flybe Finland and/or American must notify the Department no later than 30 days before they begin any new code

share service under the code

- share servi ces 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

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(d) The code

- sharing operations conducted under this authority must compl y 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 requ irements 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 t h a t t h e ope r a t i ng ca r ri e r s h a l l n o t

p e r m i t t h e code o f i t s U .S. code

- sha r i n g pa rt n e r t o be c a r ri e d on a ny fli g ht t hat en t e r s, de p a r t s, or tr a n s i t s t he a i r sp a ce o f

any a r ea f o r w hose a i r s p ace t he Fede r al A v i a ti on A d m i n i s t r a t i on h a s i ssued a f li g ht p r o h i b i t i on.

(e) The authority granted here is spe cifically 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.