Lan Airlines, S.A.

August 19, 2005

Application for a Statement of Authorization for a Long-Term Wet Lease to Lan Argentina

Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. Part 212, Lan Airlines S.A. requests a statement of authorization to engage in a long-term wet-lease of aircraft to Aero 2000 S.A. d/bla Lan Argentina. Lan Airlines intends to wet-lease Boeing 767-300 aircraft to Lan Argentina for Lan Argentina service in the following city-pair, commencing on or about October 1, 2005: 

Buenos Aires ‑ Miami ‑ Buenos Aires

The requested authorization would be in the public interest. As a new, start-up carrier from a country that has been placed in Category 2 under the FAA's TASA program, Lan Argentina is not able to operate its own services to the United States. The wet-lease arrangement between Lan Chile and Lan Argentina will allow new entry, new service and new competition in the US-Argentina market, all of which will be consistent wtih the US-Argentina air transport agreement.

Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Charles Simpson, 202-298-6600

2005-400 | Filed December 2, 2005

Application for a Statement of Authorization

All-Cargo Charter Service US-Ecuador using a Boeing 767.

Charterer: Lan Ecuador

Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Charles Simpson, 202-973-7926, cjsimpson@zsrlaw.com

OST-2005-23236 - Exemption - Ecuador-US All-Cargo
Undocketed - Statement of Authorization - Ecuador-US Wet-Lease

Filed December 2, 2005 | Amended December 29, 2005 | Issued April 13, 2006

Notice of Action Taken | Word

Exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to engage in charter foreign air transportation of property and mail between a point or points in Ecuador and a point or points in the United States and between points in the United States and third countries, in accordance with the provisions of the U.S.-Ecuador Air Transport Agreement, as amended, and pursuant to 14 CFR Part 212 of the Department’s regulations/

Amended statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 for Lan Airlines, and initial statement of authorization for Lan Cargo, to permit them to wet lease aircraft to Lan Ecuador for the conduct of the operations described above.

In reaching our decision here, we note that the cargo charter authority which Lan Ecuador seeks is provided for in Annex II of the U.S.-Ecuador Agreement, which states that both sides will authorize cargo charters between Ecuador and the United States on the basis of reciprocity, and will sympathetically consider requests to operate such charters to points outside Ecuador and the United States.  Although the Annex has expired by its terms, the United States and Ecuador are both continuing to apply its terms as if it were still in place.  Thus, in our view, the terms of Annex II form a basis for approval of this authority to Lan Ecuador.  Moreover, as noted above, we are conditioning this authority, as we have other grants of charter authority to carriers of Ecuador, on the requirement that the carrier seek prior Department approval before operating any charter flight to or from the United States.

With respect to the request of Lan Airlines and Lan Cargo for authority to wet lease, we note, as we have in previous grants of authority to Lan Ecuador, including grants of authority for Lan Airlines to wet lease to Lan Ecuador, that the IASA Category 2 status of Ecuador leaves Lan Ecuador no recourse but to conduct its operations by wet lease, and that the U.S. carrier opponents have not shown any recent cases where Chile, the homeland of Lan Airlines and Lan Cargo, has withheld wet-lease authority from a U.S. carrier.

It is true, as Continental and Delta note, that we have not, to date, been successful in our efforts to persuade the Government of Ecuador to permit the kinds of cooperative marketing arrangements, most specifically codesharing, that they seek.  Nevertheless, we find that, in the circumstances presented, including in particular the above cited provisions of Annex II (and the absence of comparable provisions on codeshare), grant of the cargo charter authority Lan Ecuador requests, as conditioned, is warranted in the public interest, as is the grant to Lan Airlines and Lan Cargo of the statements of authorization to wet lease to Lan Ecuador for these services.

By: Paul Gretch

2005-400 | Filed December 29, 2005 | Approved April 13, 2006

Amended Statement of Authorization

On December 2, 2005, Lan Airlines S.A. filed an application (undocketed) to amend its existing statement of authorization to engage in a long-term wet lease of aircraft to Aerolane, Lineas Aereas Nacionales del Ecuador d/b/a Lan Ecuador. As explained in the application, Lan seeks to amend its statement of authorization to enable Lan to wet lease aircraft to Lan Ecuador in connection with Lan Ecuador's all-cargo charter service, for which Lan Ecuador has requested exemption authority in Docket OST-2005‑23236.

By this letter, Lan and Lan Cargo, S.A., amend the December 2 application and jointly request that the statement of authorization be further amended to authorize "Lan Airlines, S.A. and/or Lan Cargo, S.A." to wet lease aircraft to Lan Ecuador for the conduct of Lan Ecuador's authorized all-cargo service, including the service contemplated by Lan Ecuador's application in Docket OST-2005‑23236.

Lan Cargo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lan and holds "open skies" exemption authority, including Seventh Freedom all-cargo authority, most recently renewed by Notice of Action Taken dated November 1, 2005 (Docket OST-2001-10708). Lan Cargo also holds a foreign air carrier permit authorizing charter service issued by Order 1981-8-118. It is the intention of the carriers that Lan Cargo will wet lease aircraft to Lan Ecuador, in lieu of or in addition to Lan, in connection with Lan Ecuador's all-cargo service. Thus, the carriers wish to expand the statement of authorization, to the extent necessary to encompass wet lease flights operated by Lan Cargo.

The inclusion of Lan Cargo in Lan' s pending application does not represent a significant change to the relief requested. Moreover, the inclusion of Lan Cargo and Lan in the same statement of authorization should reduce the burden on the Department and other parties in the case of future renewals of or amendments to the statement of authorization.

Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Charles Simpson, 202-298-8660

2006-451 | Filed November 13, 2006 | Approved November 15, 2006

Application for a Statement of Authorization

Lan Airlines S.A. hereby requests a statement of authorization under 14 C.F.R. Part 212 to engage in a long-term wet-lease of aircraft to Aerolane, Lineas Aereas Nacionales del Ecuador d/b/a Lan Ecuador. Pursuant to this statement of authorization, Lan will wet-lease Boeing 767-300 aircraft to Lan Ecuador for scheduled service between points in Ecuador and the United States, which Lan Ecuador has provided pursuant to authority granted in Docket OST-2003-14291.

In Order 2004-4-21, the Department granted Lan a statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to wet-lease aircraft to Lan Ecuador in the conduct of Lan Ecuador's authorized services. This statement of authorization was most recently renewed for a one-year period by Notice of Action Taken dated November 2, 2005. Purely as the result of an administrative oversight, Lan did not file an application to renew its statement of authorization on or before November 2, 2006. By this application, therefore, Lan seeks a statement of authorization to wetlease aircraft to Lan Ecuador in the conduct of Lan Ecuador's authorized services, for a period of not less than one year.

Counsel: Zuckert Scoutt, Charles Simpson, 202-973-7926, cjsimpson@zsrlaw.com