 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on December 12, 2005

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2005-22829

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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:  TAG Aviation (UK) Ltd.							Date Filed:  October 24, 2005

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to engage in
charter foreign air transportation of persons and property between any
point or points in the United Kingdom and any point or points in the
United States, either directly or via intermediate or beyond points in
other countries with or without stopovers, and other charters pursuant
to 14 CFR Part 212 of the Department’s regulations.

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

Applicant representatives:  Gary B. Garofalo & Erin M. Tallardy  (202)
776-3970

                                                                    

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

Responsive pleadings:  Continental Airlines, Inc. (Continental) filed an
answer stating that the authority requested would allow TAG UK to
provide unlimited charter service between London Heathrow (Heathrow) and
any point or points in the United States.  Continental states that until
U.S. carriers are given competitive access at Heathrow the Department
should not be awarding open-ended authority to any U.K. carriers for
operations at Heathrow.  By letter dated November 17, 2005, TAG UK filed
a reply stating that it has no plans to operate U.S. service to or from
Heathrow and would accept a Heathrow limitation on its requested
authority.   By letter dated November 18, 2005, Continental withdrew its
objection to the application proceeding so long as the authority granted
is subject to a limitation precluding service to or from Heathrow.

DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved, subject to limitation (see below)					Action date: 
December 12, 2005

Effective dates of exemption authority granted:  December 12, 2005 –
December 12, 2006

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity): U.S.-U.K. Air
Services Agreement

 

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

    X    Standard exemption conditions (attached)                  
Foreign air carrier permit   (          )

Special conditions/Partial grant/Denial basis/Remarks:  TAG UK may not
conduct operations under this authority to or from London’s Heathrow
Airport.  Based on the record in this case, we find that TAG UK is
financially and operationally qualified to perform the services
authorized above.   However, we are unable to find that TAG UK is
substantially owned and effectively controlled by British nationals. 
Specifically, the applicant states that TAG UK is a subsidiary of TAG
Holding, a Swiss company.  TAG Holding is owned 46.63% by a trust, the
beneficiaries of which are citizens of Switzerland, France and Germany. 
The remaining shares are ultimately held by citizens of Saudi Arabia,
the U.K., Hong Kong and by a person of joint Lebanese, Canadian and U.K.
citizenship.  Of the nine members of TAG Holding’s board, three hold
Swiss citizenship, two hold French citizenship, two hold British
citizenship, one holds Swedish citizenship, and one holds American
citizenship.  Based on this record, we find that there is no evidence
that would suggest that the ownership and control of TAG UK would make
grant of this authority inimical to U.S. aviation policy or interests. 
Under the circumstances present, we find that it is consistent with the
public interest to use our discretion and to waive our ownership and
control standard in this instance.  The carrier is properly licensed by
the Government of the United Kingdom to perform the proposed services. 
By memorandum November 4, 2005, the FAA advised us that it knew of no
reason why we should act unfavorably on TAG UK’s application.

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 

Foreign 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 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, including, but not limited to, 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 Principal Security Inspector (IPSI) to advise
the IPSI 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.

 TAG UK’s application was accompanied by a motion under Rule 12 (14
CFR § 302.12) to withhold certain financial information from public
disclosure.  In support of its motion, TAG UK states that the
information is proprietary and commercially sensitive, and that TAG UK
would be adversely affected by its disclosure.  We have reviewed the
documents under the disclosure guidelines of Rule 12 and have determined
that they warrant confidential treatment.  Because of the commercially
sensitive nature of the information, we have determined that the
documents fall within the Freedom of Information Act exemption for
proprietary information and would adversely affect the competitive
position of TAG UK under 49 U.S.C. § 40115.

05/2004

