 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on September 3, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2004-18908

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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).

Joint Applicants:  TACA INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES, S.A. (TACA)             
     Date Filed: August 13, 2004

Relief requested:  Statement of Authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to
permit TACA, for the purpose of transporting Iberia’s Spain-Central
America traffic, to carry Iberia’s designator code on TACA’s
scheduled flights between:  1) San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and Miami,
Florida; 2) Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Miami, Florida; 3) Managua,
Nicaragua, and Miami, Florida; and 4) San Salvador, El Salvador, and
Miami, Florida.

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

Applicant representative:  John R. Brimsek, 202-296-8000         DOT
analyst:  Allen F. Brown, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings:  None.

	DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved.                                                      
                                              Action date:  September 3,
2004

Effective dates of authority granted:  Effective September 3, 2004, for
an indefinite duration.

Basis for approval:  United States-El Salvador Air Transport Agreement.

Remarks/Conditions:  This code-share operation is subject to the
following conditions – a) the Statement of Authorization will remain
in effect only as long as (i) TACA and Iberia 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) TACA and/or Iberia must notify the
Department immediately if the code-share agreement under which this
code-share service is operated is no longer in effect, or if the
carriers decide to cease operating all or any portion of the code-share
service under the agreement.  We expect this notification to be received
within ten days of such non-effectiveness or of such decision.  This
notice should be filed in Docket OST-2004-18908.  c) The code-sharing
operation 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 subject air 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 the service in computer reservation systems and elsewhere;
that the carrier selling such transportation (that is, 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.  d) The authority granted here is specifically
conditioned so that the subject foreign air carriers shall not 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) our action was consistent with Department
policy; (2) the applicant was qualified to perform its 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/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://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp

