 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on April 5, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2003-16771

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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: Maersk Air A/S							Date Filed:  December 8, 2003

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 and statement of
authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to permit Maersk Air A/S (Maersk) to
display the airline designator code of Continental Airlines, Inc.
(“CO”) on flights operated by Maersk between Billund and Copenhagen,
Denmark, on the one hand, and London, United Kingdom, and Amsterdam,
Netherlands, on the other hand.

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

Applicant representatives:  G. Paul Moates & Gabriel S. Meyer--(202)
736--8600

Responsive pleadings:  None filed

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

DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved								Action date:  April 5, 2004 

Effective dates of the exemption and statement of authorization granted:
 April 5, 2004-April 5, 2006

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity):  Air Transport
Agreements between the United States and Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway
and Sweden)

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the
terms, conditions, and limitations indicated:

X  Standard exemption conditions (attached)	

Special conditions/Partial grant/Denial basis/Remarks:  Based on the
record in this case, we found that Maersk is financially and
operationally qualified to perform the services authorized above. 
Maersk is a privately owned Danish company, which commenced operations
in 1970.  Maersk is wholly owned by A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S (APM), a
citizen of Denmark.  All of Maersk’s board of directors and key
management personnel are citizens of Denmark.  The carrier is properly
licensed by the Government of Denmark to perform the proposed services.

The statement of authorization granted to Maersk is subject to the
following conditions:

(a)  The statement of authorization will remain in effect only as long
as (i) Maersk and Continental 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)  Maersk and/or Continental must promptly notify the Department
(Office of International Aviation) if the code-share agreement providing
for the code-share operations is no longer effective or the carriers
decide to cease operating any or all of the approved code-share
services.  Such notices should be filed in Docket OST-2003-16771.

(c)  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 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.  Further, the operator 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.

(d)  The authority granted here is specifically conditioned so that
neither Maersk nor Continental shall give any force or effect to any
contractual provisions between themselves that are contrary to these
conditions.

Action taken by:  Paul L. Gretch, Director	

		   Office of International Aviation	

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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:

  HYPERLINK "http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp" 
http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp 

											Attachment

Foreign Carrier 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 with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation
Administration, including, but not limited to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and
36, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning
security.  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 Principal Security Inspector (PSI) to advise the PSI 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 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 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.

  On April 5, 2004, we granted a related request of Continental for
exemption authority to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of
persons, property and mail between the United States and Denmark, Norway
and Sweden in Docket OST-2003-16556.

  We expect this notification to be received within 10 days of such
noneffectiveness or of such decision.

