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WORLD TRADE

S/C/W/270/Add.2Page iv

S/C/W/270/Add.2

Page xliv

World Trade

Organization

RESTRICTED

S/C/W/270/Add.2

28 September 2007

(07-4065)

Council for Trade in Services

note by the secretariat

Second Review of the Air Transport Annex

Developments in the Air Transport Sector

(Part Three)

table of contents

general introduction1

I.Plurilateral Air Services Agreements5

A.Introduction9

1.Documentary problems9

2.Lack of information on signature, ratification and entry into force16

3.Lack of information on the effective degree of implementation17

4.Imperfect application of the QUASAR methodology17

5.Difficulties related to the coding of plurilateral ASAs18

Annex I20

B.Legal and traffic profiles of plurilateral Air Services Agreements23

C.Main conclusions209

1.Traffic covered209

2.Degree of openness of plurilateral agreements212

3.Types of plurilateral agreements214

4.Analysis by features215

(i)Fifth freedom traffic rights215

(ii)Seventh freedom traffic rights215

(iii)Cabotage216

(iv)Tariffs216

(v)Capacity216

(vi)Designation217

(vii)Withholding217

(viii)Cooperative arrangements218

(ix)Exchange of statistics218

II.Economic and financial situation of scheduled passenger airlines221

A.Economic developments221

1.Traffic221

(a)Global tendencies221

(b)Regional developments223

2.Employment224

3.Operations of the major passenger carriers224

B.Financial performance228

C.Government support229

III. ECONOMIC AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS IN SPECIFIC AREAS237

A.Low-cost carrier services237

1.What makes a carrier low-cost?237

2.Economic and regulatory developments by region241

(a)The Americas243

(i)United States243

(ii)Canada245

(iii)Brazil, Chile and Mexico246

(b)Middle East and Africa247

(c)Asia248

(i)Malaysia250

(ii)Singapore251

(iii)Thailand252

(iv)Indonesia252

(v)Japan253

(vi)India253

(vii)China254

(viii)Others255

(d)Oceania256

(e)Europe258

3.The spread of the low-cost model – catalysts and implications262

B.Non-scheduled passenger air transport services267

1.Economic developments267

2.Regulatory developments at ICAO271

C.Regional air transport services277

1.Overall developments277

2.Regional developments280

(a)North America280

(b)Europe283

(c)Latin America284

(d)Africa and the Middle East285

(e)Asia-Pacific286

D.general aviation services291

1.Economic developments291

(a)General aviation as a whole291

(b)Business aviation292

(c)Aerial work297

2.Regulatory developments298

(a)Multilateral developments298

(i)ICAO298

(ii)International Business Aviation Council300

(b)Bilateral Developments301

(i)Free Trade Agreements signed by the United States301

(ii)US – European Community relations301

(iii)Relations between the European Community and its trading partners302

(c)Regional and national developments302

(i)European Civil Aviation Conference302

(ii)Joint Aviation Authorities and the European Aviation Safety Agency303

(iii)European Community303

(iv)United States304

E.air cargo services309

1.Commercial developments309

(a)Traffic trends309

(b)Inter-modal competition316

(c)Economic trends affecting actors in the air freight supply chain317

(i)Developments affecting carriers317

(a)Low-cost carriers and leisure carriers320

(b)Belly carriers321

(c)Mixed fleet carriers321

(d)All-cargo carriers323

(e)Express carriers323

(ii)Trends affecting other actors in the air freight supply chain324

(a)Freight forwarders324

(b)Airports325

(c)Other service providers involved in the air transport chain329

(d)Other economic developments329

2.Regulatory Developments330

(a)Aspects directly related to market access330

(i)Bilateral developments330

(ii)Discussions at ICAO333

(iii)Regional developments339

(a)Andean Pact339

(b)ASEAN Memorandum of Understanding on Air Freight Services339

(c)OECD339

(iv)National developments341

(v)Recent studies353

(b)Security-related regulatory aspects353

(c)Other regulatory aspects354

Annex II355

F.Slots373

1.Regulatory developments373

(a)Discussions at ICAO374

(b)European Union378

(c)United States382

(i)La Guardia382

(ii)Chicago O'Hare384

(iii)New York JFK and Washington National384

(d)Other countries384

(e)IATA regime385

2.Commercial developments386

(a)United States386

(b)European Union387

G.Alliances and cooperation amongst airlines391

1.Global alliances391

(a)Economic developments391

(i)Restructuring and membership of global alliances391

(ii)Second tier membership395

(iii)Alliance initiatives395

(iv)Management structure397

(b)Regulatory issues397

2.Code-sharing agreements398

(a)Regulatory aspects398

(b)Commercial aspects401

H.ownership405

1.Regulatory aspects405

(a)The different concepts associated with the term "ownership" and their interaction405

(i)Designation and national investment/establishment regime405

(ii)Designation and withholding406

(a)From the point of view of an individual party407

(b)From the point of view of two ASA partners407

(iii)National investment /establishment regime and withholding409

(b)Documentary limitations410

(c)Regulatory developments410

(i)Regulatory developments with regard to withholding and designation410

(a)Multilateral developments410

(b)Regional developments413

(c)Bilateral developments413

(ii)Regulatory developments with regard to national investment/establishment regimes419

(iii)Regulatory aspects with regard to privatisation421

2.Commercial and economic developments421

(a)Main developments in the ownership structure of airlines421

(b)Trans-national ownership developments444

(i)Introduction444

(ii)Regional analysis446

(a)Intra-Europe446

(b)Europe-North America447

(c)Europe-Asia/Pacific447

(d)Europe-Africa447

(e)Intra-Africa447

(f)Intra-Asia/Pacific447

(g)Intra-Americas448

(iii)Other significant trends450

(a)Rationale450

(b)Actors involved451

IV. OTHER SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS455

A.Multilateral developments455

B.Bilateral developments455

list of tables, figures, charts and boxes

I. PLURILATERAL AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS

A. INTRODUCTION

Figure 1

Stylised map of plurilateral Air Services Agreements12

Box 1

Plurilateral ASAs not included in the latest ICAO lists13

Box 2

The consequences of the ECJ "open skies" rulings on EC Member States' existing

bilateral ASA15

B. LEGAL AND TRAFFIC PROFILES OF PLURILATERAL AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS

C. MAIN CONCLUSIONS

Table 1

Traffic carried under plurilateral Air Services Agreements, 2005209

Table 2

Bilateral relations within plurilateral agreements with a direct service210

Figure 2

ICAO-recorded and non-recorded bilateral agreements with and

without direct service211

Figure 3

International scheduled traffic as covered by bilateral and plurilateral agreements212

Table 3

Weighted Air Liberalisation Index of selected groups of plurilateral

and bilateral agreements, ranked by traffic213

Table 4

Plurilateral agreements ranked by ALI213

Table 5

Plurilateral and bilateral Air Services Agreements by type214

II. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION OF SCHEDULED PASSENGER AIRLINES

Table 6

World total international and domestic revenue traffic, 2000-2005222

Table 7

World international revenue traffic, 2000-2005222

Table 8

Regional distribution of scheduled traffic, 2000-2005223

Table 9

Airlines' direct and total employment by region, 2004224

Table 10 Top 200 passenger airlines' operations, by region, 2005225

Table 11

Top 200 passenger airlines' operations, ranked by traffic, 2005226

Table 12

Operating and net results, 2000-2005228

Chart 1

Net results, 2000-2007228

III. ECONOMIC AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS IN SPECIFIC AREAS

A. LOW-COST CARRIER SERVICES

Figure 4 Economic advantages of the low-cost model238

Chart 2

Low-cost carrier cost advantages239

Table 13 Top 40 low-cost carriers by passenger numbers, 2006242

Table 14 Financial results for selected low-cost carriers, 2006243

Chart 3

Share of the low-cost airline sector in the US domestic market, 1990-2004244

Table 15 Share of the top 5 legacy and low-cost carriers in the US domestic market,

May 2005244

Table 16 Share of low-cost carriers in the Mexican domestic market, 2005 and 2007247

Table 17 Selected low-cost carriers in Asia249

Table 18 Selected low-cost carriers in Oceania257

Table 19 Share of the top 5 legacy and low-cost carriers in the Western

European market, May 2005259

Chart 4

Share of new demand in European LCCs' traffic and breakdown of new demand259

Table 20 Low-cost carriers' market penetration262

B. NON-SCHEDULED PASSENGER AIR TRANSPORT SERVICES

Table 21 Estimated international non-scheduled revenue passenger traffic, 2000-2005267

Table 22 Airlines ranked by charter passenger numbers, 2001 and 2005269

C. REGIONAL AIR TRANSPORT SERVICES

Table 23 Top 50 regional airlines by passenger numbers, 2000 and 2005278

Table 24 Traffic, seat capacity, load factor and fleet of the top 100 regional airlines,

2000-2005279

Table 25 Top 100 regional airlines by geographical region, 2000 and 2005279

Table 26 Top ten airlines' share of total regional emplanements in the United States, 2000281

Table 27 Passenger traffic of the top ten North American regional airlines, 2000 and 2005282

Table 28 Passenger traffic of the top ten European regional airlines, 2000 and 2005283

Table 29 Passenger traffic of the top five Latin American regional airlines, 2000 and 2005284

Table 30 Passenger traffic of the top five regional airlines in Africa and the

Middle East, 2000 and 2005285

Table 31

Passenger traffic of the top ten Asia-Pacific regional airlines, 2000 and 2005286

D. GENERAL AVIATION SERVICES

Table 32 Number of pilots employed, aircraft used and flight hours

logged in the general aviation sector, 2003-2005291

Chart 5

Number and value of new business jets produced by the

leading manufacturers, 2002-2007293

Table 33 Business aviation fleets (jets and turboprops), 2005294

Chart 6 Percentage of sales outside North America by the main business

aircraft manufacturers, 2003-2006296

Chart 7

Forecast helicopter deliveries by type of aircraft, 2004-2009297

Chart 8

Forecast helicopter deliveries by type of aircraft, 2004-2009298

Chart 9 Forecast helicopter deliveries by customer segment, 2004-2009298

Table 34 Restrictions on general aviation imposed by the world's main airports, 2005299

E. AIR CARGO SERVICES

Table 35 Annual growth of air freight in freight tonne kilometres, 2001-2006309

Chart 10 Freight revenues and traffic growth in tonne kilometres, 1999-2007309

Chart 11 Airline freight yields, 1998-2005310

Chart 12 Regional breakdown of cargo traffic in 2000311

Chart 13 Regional breakdown of cargo traffic in 2004311

Chart 14 Regional breakdown of cargo revenues in 2000312

Chart 15 Regional breakdown of cargo revenues in 2004312

Table 36 Regional breakdown of cargo traffic and revenues, 2000 and 2004313

Chart 16 Tonnage growth by route and relative route size, 2006314

Chart 17 Boeing and Airbus passenger and freight traffic forecasts to 2025315

Chart 18 Forecasted new international freight traffic, 2005-1010316

Table 37 Top 50 cargo airlines by tonne-kilometres, 2000 and 2005318

Table 38 Top five air freight carriers including alliances, 2000322

Table 39 Leading air freight customers, 2004325

Table 40 Top 50 cargo airports by traffic volume, 2000-2005327

Table 41 Air Services Agreements containing "all-cargo" provisions332

Table 42 Air Services Agreements containing beyond-fourth-freedom traffic rights332

Box 3

Annex on air cargo services proposed by ICAO335

Box 4

Functioning of a plurilateral agreement under the GATS, as seen by the OECD339

Table 43 Global Express Association's inventory of restrictions that have an impact

on the air services of express delivery operators342

F. SLOTS

Table 44 Summary of main properties of market mechanisms for slot allocation380

Table 45Slot reallocation at Haneda airport385

Table 46Fully coordinated airports by region, 2000-2006386

Table 47Types of coordinators, 2000-2006386

G. ALLIANCES AND COOPERATION AMONGST AIRLINES

Table 48Service data on the three global alliances, mid-2007393

Chart 19Distribution of world passengers by alliance, 2006393

Chart 20Distribution of world revenue passenger-kilometres by alliance, 2006394

Chart 21Distribution of world revenue passenger-kilometres by alliance

post confirmed changes to membership394

Table 49Benefits and risks of code-sharing for marketing and operating carriers399

Table 50Agreements required to exercise fifth freedom traffic rights400

Table 51Agreements required to exercise seventh freedom traffic rights400

H. OWNERSHIP

Figure 5The investment/designation side of the "ownership triangle"406

Figure 6The designation/withholding side of the "ownership triangle"406

Table 52Combinations of designation and withholding policies in the framework of a

bilateral agreement408

Figure 7The investment/withholding side of the "ownership triangle"409

Table 53Summary of responses to the ICAO's 2003 questionnaire on withholding

and designation policies414

Table 54National investment/establishment regimes changed of clarified since 2000420

Table 55Airlines more than 80 per cent government-owned, September 2006421

Table 56Developments in the ownership structure of the world's main

scheduled passenger airlines, 2002-2006422

Table 57International cross-airline investments and disinvestments, 2001 and 2006445

Table 58Trans-national ownership, April 2004449

Table 59Foreign direct investments by and in airlines, by region, 2004449

IV. OTHER SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Table 60Forecast annual percentage change for the traffic from

Western/Central Europe to North-East Asia, 2005-2009456

Table 61Estimates of overflight fees paid by EC carriers456

Table 62Capacity deployed on routes overflying Russia458

LIST OF ACRONYMS

A

ACAC

Arab Civil Aviation Commission

ACI

Airports Council International

ACMI

Aircraft Crew Maintenance and Insurance

ACS

Association of Caribbean States

AEA

Association of European Airlines

ALI

Air Liberalisation Index

ANSConf2000

(ICAO's) Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation Services

ANZ

Air New Zealand

AOC

Air Operator Certificate

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum

ASA

Air Services Agreement

ASEAN

Association of South-East Asian Nations

ASK

Available Seat-Kilometre

ATA

(US) Air Transport Association

ATAG

Air Transport Action Group

ATConf/5

(ICAO's) Fifth Worldwide Air Transport Conference

ATSB

(US) Air Transportation Stabilization Board

ATSSSA

(US) Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act

B

BIMP-EAGA

Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area

BST

Brunei, Singapore, Thailand (Agreement)

C

CAAC

Civil Aviation Administration of China

CAAS

Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

CARICOM-MASA

Caribbean Community Multilateral Air Services Agreement

CASS

(IATA) Cargo Account Settlement System

CEMAC

Communauté Economique et Monétaire d'Afrique

CLMV

Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Vietnam (Agreement)

COI

Community of Interest

COMESA

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

CRS

Computer Reservation Systems

D

DAGMAR

(ICAO) Database of Aeronautical Agreements and Arrangements

DES+

Designation-plus (weighting system)

DGAC

(Indonesian) Directorate General of Air Communications

DOT

(US) Department of Transport

E

EASA

European Aviation Safety Agency

ECA

European Cockpit Association

ECAA

European Common Aviation Area

ECAC

European Civil Aviation Conference

ECJ

European Court of Justice

EEA

European Economic Area

ELFAA

European Low-Fare Airlines Association

ERA

European Regions Airline Association

F

FAA

(US) Federal Aviation Administration

FTA

Free Trade Agreement

FTK

Flight Tonne Kilometres

G

GEA

Gobal Express Association

GSA

General Sales Agent

H

HDR

High Density Rule

I

IACA

International Air Carrier Association

IAOPA

International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations

IASTA

International Air Services Transit Agreement

IATA

International Air Transport Association

IATA44

International Air Transport Agreement (1944)

IBAC

International Business Aviation Council

ICAO

International Civil Aviation Organization

ICC

International Chamber of Commerce

IFALPA

International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations

IMT-GT

Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle

ITF

International Transport Workers’ Federation

J

JAA

(EC) Joint Aviation Authorities

L

LCC

Low-Cost Carrier

M

MALIAT

Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation

MAS

Malaysian Airline System

N

NAFTA

North-American Free Trade Agreement

O

OAG

Official Airline Guide

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OWN+

Ownership-plus (weighting system)

P

Pax

Passengers

PIASA

Pacific Islands Air Services Agreement

PPOB

Principal Place of Business

PPOB&EC

Principle Place of Business and Effective Control

PPOB&ERC

Principle Place of Business and Effective Regulatory Control

Q

QUASAR

Quantitative Air Services Agreements Review

R

RFID

Radio Frequency Identification

RPK

Revenue Passenger-Kilometre

S

SAM

Single Aviation Market (of the EC)

SARS

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

SOEC

Substantial Ownership and Effective Control

STD

Standard (weighting system)

T

TASA

Template Air Services Agreement

TCCS

Third Country Code-Sharing

TIACA

The International Air Cargo Association

U

UAE

United Arab Emirates

UNECA

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

UNMIK

United Nations Mission in Kosovo

V

VLJ

Very Light Jet

W

WAEMU

West African Economic and Monetary Union

WASA

World Air Services Agreement (database)

-

5th+

Fifth freedom-plus (weighting system)

general introduction

1. The present document is the third part of the documentation prepared by the Secretariat for the second review of the Air Transport Annex. It covers: (I) plurilateral Air Services Agreements; (II) the economic and financial situation of scheduled passenger airlines; (III) economic and regulatory developments in specific areas, namely low-cost carrier services, non-scheduled passenger air transport services, regional air transport services, general aviation services, cargo services, slots, alliances and cooperation amongst airlines, ownership; and (IV) other significant economic and regulatory developments.

SECTION I

PLURILATERAL

AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS

II. Plurilateral Air Services Agreements

2. To the knowledge of the Secretariat, no detailed study of plurilateral Air Services Agreements (ASAs) and the traffic they cover has ever been undertaken thus far. Potentially relevant documents offer no real systematic or analytical insights. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Database on Liberalization Experiences is only a collection of papers of various origin and without a truly harmonized structure. Similarly, the documentation issued for ICAO's Global Symposium on Air Transport Liberalization, held in Dubai in September 2006, does not include any structured or quantified studies.

3. The analysis that follows is an attempt to bridge that gap. It applies to plurilateral ASAs, mutatis mutandis, the Quantitative Air Services Agreements Review (QUASAR) methodology developed by the Secretariat to assess the degree of liberalization of bilateral ASAs.

4. The analysis is structured along lines identical to those of the bilateral part of QUASAR. It is hence composed of three parts:

A.an explanation of the methodological limitations proper to the examination of plurilateral agreements, and the modifications to bilateral QUASAR template that these have required;

B.a description of the format devised by the Secretariat to analyse plurilateral agreements, followed by a series of "profiles", i.e. a series of predetermined, identically structured tables outlining the main provisions, the degree of liberalisation and the traffic covered by each agreement, at least de jure;

C.main conclusions, complementing those contained in document S/C/W/270/Add.1 (paragraphs 36 to 41, pages I.18 to I.21, and paragraphs 49 to 54, pages I.29 to I.31).

PART A

INTRODUCTION

B. Introduction

5. The transposition of the QUASAR methodology to the analysis of plurilateral ASAs suffers from a series of methodological limitations, which are linked to: (1) documentary problems; (2) lack of information on signature, ratification and entry into force; (3) lack of information on effective degree of implementation; (4) imperfect application of the QUASAR methodology; and (5) the coding of the provisions of the agreements.

2. Documentary problems

6. The first methodological limitation is of a documentary nature. There exists no single source for the texts of plurilateral ASAs and none of these agreements is recorded in the ICAO World Air Services Agreement (WASA) database. The WASA contains codified summaries of all bilateral ASAs registered with ICAO, and, since 2005, of some bilaterals identified by ICAO and added proprio motu to the database. This situation may, however, be transitory since, for instance, ICAO has just received the notification of the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT), and since the 1997 Fortaleza Agreement foresees, in its Article 19, registration with ICAO.

7. In order to be consistent with the approach followed for bilateral agreements, where the ICAO selection has been used as a basis, the WTO Secretariat has decided to use a list of plurilateral ASAs recently drawn up by ICAO for its 2006 Global Symposium on Air Transport Liberalization. This list is made up of two sub-lists.

8. The first ICAO sub-list consists of 14 agreements, grouped without a precise common criterion. They are:

-Single Aviation Market of the EC (EC-SAM; 1987);

-Decision on the Integration of Air Transport within the Andean Pact (Andean Pact; 1991);

-Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle Region (IMT-GT; 1995);

-Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA; 1995);

-Caribbean Community Multilateral Air Services Agreement (CARICOM-MASA; 1996);

-Fortaleza Agreement (1996);

-Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Vietnam Agreement (CLMV; 1998, followed by a formal multilateral agreement in 2003);

-Intra-Arab Freedom of the Air Programme of the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC; 1999);

-Agreement on Air Transport of the Communauté Economique et Monétaire d'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC; 1999);

-Air Transport Liberalization Programme of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA; 1999);

-Yamoussoukro II Ministerial Decision (1999);

-Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT; 2001);

-Banjul Accord Group Agreement (2004);

-Brunei, Singapore, Thailand Agreement (BST; 2004).

9. Two of the above-mentioned agreements have not been retained by the WTO Secretariat in its analysis. First, the EC-SAM, since it has been considered as covering domestic traffic. (The agreement has been described at length in the documentation produced for the first review, see compilation, pages 178-179 and 207). Second, the BST, since it only covers cargo services.

10. Plurilateral ASAs that were signed since the issuance of the ICAO lists have been added to this first ICAO sub-list. They are:

-European Common Aviation Area (ECAA; June 2006);

-Euro-Mediterranean Air Transport Agreement (Euro-Med; December 2006);

-First-Phase US-EU Air Transport Agreement (US-EU; 30 April 2007).

11. The agreements of this ICAO first sub-list were, however, not all immediately available from ICAO or through simple internet searches. The WTO Secretariat, therefore, sought the assistance of a number of aviation correspondents to find the texts of these agreements. This explains why certain agreements are not available on the internet, but only from the WTO Secretariat. Moreover, many are available in only one of the WTO official languages.

The Secretariat stands ready to issue, in one single document, the texts of all the plurilateral agreements in all three WTO official languages, so as to increase transparency and availability of documentation.

12. The second sub-list drawn up by ICAO consist of "arrangements in the signature or ratification process" and comprises:

-Pacific Islands Air Services Agreement (PIASA; 2003);

-Common Air Transport Programme of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU; 2002);

-Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Sectoral Integration Protocol for Air Travel (ASEAN Roadmap; 2005);

-Air Transport Agreement for a Common Aviation Area of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS; 2004).

The Secretariat stands ready to produce addenda based on any additional information Members may wish to provide about p1urilateral ASAs.

13. The borderline between the two sub-lists is not very clear, as the definition of the second list could imply that all agreements of the first group have been ratified, which is apparently not the case.

14. One may note, moreover, that the two sub-lists encompass agreements concluded years before the period under review (2000-2005). The WTO Secretariat has nevertheless chosen to include these agreements in its analysis, since their date of entry into force is not always clear and since they had been described in the documentation produced for the first review only in an "impressionistic" manner (see compilation, pages 170-180; Table 3, page 193; Table 5, page 195; Table 6, page 196; Table 9, page 211), i.e. without a detailed assessment of their provisions and without any relevant statistical information.

15. Figure 1 illustrates, in a stylised fashion, the complex web of plurilateral ASAs.

Figure 1

Stylised map of plurilateral Air Services Agreements

Source: WTO Secretariat (2006)

16. The ICAO lists could be considered incomplete. In its "Manual of Regulation", ICAO refers to a series of older multilateral agreements that are not included in its most recent lists. These agreements appear in Box 1. A possible explanation of the removal of these agreements from ICAO's most recent lists is that they touch essentially upon non-scheduled services, which, in most instances, are not covered by ASAs but by national regulations, and upon tariffs, which are only one aspect of ASAs and which recent developments in competition law have rendered obsolete. The only case where Box 1 touches upon a plurilateral ASA similar to those contained in the recent ICAO lists is Yamoussoukro I, which has since been replaced by Yamoussoukro II.

Box 1

Plurilateral ASAs not included in the latest ICAO lists

· The Multilateral Agreement on Commercial Rights of Non-Scheduled Air Services in Europe, concluded by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) member States, signed in Paris on 30 April 1956. This Agreement states that aircraft engaged in non-scheduled commercial flights within Europe, which do not harm scheduled services, may be freely admitted.

· The ECAC International Agreement on the Procedure for the Establishment of Tariffs for Scheduled Air Services, signed in Paris on 10 July 1967, which provided ECAC member States with uniform principles and procedures regarding tariff establishment.

· The Multilateral Agreement on Commercial Rights of Non-Scheduled Air Services among the Association of South-East Asian Nations, signed in Manila on 13 March 1971, which liberalized non-scheduled air services within the sub-region.

· The International Agreement on the Procedure for the Establishment of Tariffs for Intra-European Scheduled Air Services by ECAC member States, signed in Paris on 16 June 1987, which provided uniform principles and procedures for the establishment of tariffs and introduced the zone system of tariff regulation.

· The Yamoussoukro I Declaration on a New African Air Transport Policy, signed by the Ministers for civil aviation of African States in October 1988 and revised in September 1994, which established a programme for the integration of African airlines and guidelines for cooperation in the air transport field among States in Africa.

Source: ICAO Manual of Regulation, Second edition, 2004.

17. The November 2006 issue of Airline Business contains a list of plurilateral ASAs which includes two further agreements: the GATS, and the 1944 International Air Transport Agreement (IATA44; 1944). The latter agreement entered into force on 8 February 1945 and has been accepted as binding by 19 parties, eight of which subsequently withdrew. The remaining parties are Aruba, Bolivia, Burundi, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Greece, Honduras, Liberia, Netherlands, Paraguay, and Turkey. The IATA44 is still in force among those parties, unless it has been superseded by a bilateral treaty either explicitly or through the provisions on succession of treaties of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

18. A more detailed examination shows that the, out of the 66 bilateral agreements theoretically possible among those 12 parties, ICAO has recorded only eight, five of which were without a direct service in 2006 (i.e. Bolivia-Costa Rica, Costa Rica-Paraguay, Honduras-Netherlands, Netherlands-Paraguay, Ethiopia-Greece).

19. The IATA44, therefore, theoretically applies to the remaining 58 (i.e. 66 minus 8) traffic relations. However, only eight direct services exist for these 58 traffic relations, namely: Costa Rica-El Salvador, Burundi-Ethiopia, Costa Rica-Honduras, El Salvador-Honduras, Ethiopia-Netherlands, Netherlands-Aruba, Ethiopia-Turkey, Netherlands-Turkey. It would be interesting to know if the provisions of the IATA44 (full granting of third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh freedom traffic rights) are effectively applied to those traffic relations.

20. Since neither effective implementation nor original date of entry into force of the plurilateral agreements have been retained as criteria to determine the scope of the analysis, the Secretariat has decided to extend it to the IATA44. The agreement is not only legally in force and duly registered with ICAO, but also touches upon market access issues. Furthermore, it constitutes the first of the two attempts by ICAO to define a truly multilateral framework for air transport services, as originally intended by the Chicago Convention (i.e. the "missing chapters") and may have therefore more than just an historical and legal relevance.

21. In order to be exhaustive, one might also have wished to include the draft Multilateral Agreement on Commercial Rights in International Civil Air Transport of 1947, which was the second and last attempt by ICAO at a multilateral aviation framework. However, differently from the IATA44, this multilateral agreement has remained a draft and never reached the signature and ratification stages.

22. One could also question the use of the term "plurilateral" applied to the US-EU, Euro-Med and ECAA agreements, since the European Commission negotiated them on behalf of the EC Member States on the basis of an explicit mandate. Nevertheless, since EU Member States are also signatories to these agreements individually and since the latter have been listed as regional/plurilateral agreements by ICAO, the WTO Secretariat has decided to follow ICAO practice and consider them as plurilateral ASAs.

23. By the same token, the WTO Secretariat has chosen to include in its analysis of plurilaterals the Air Transport Agreement between the EU and Switzerland (EU-CH; 1999), since two other agreements involving the EU and its Members States on the one hand, and a third party on the other (i.e. US-EU and Euro-Med) had been included in the ICAO lists.

24. Indeed, in establishing its lists, ICAO seems to have largely followed the EC approach to presenting its external air transport policy. Following the EC Commission's Communication on "Developing the Agenda for the Community's External Aviation Policy", the June 2005 conclusions of the EC Council of Transport Ministers set the roadmap to develop the external aviation relations of the EC. According to these texts, EC policy is based on three pillars, aimed at:

1.ensuring legal certainty of existing bilateral ASAs, notably through new designation clauses;

2developing the wider European Common Aviation Area by 2010; and

3.establishing a web of new comprehensive ASAs, laying out the twin aims of, on the one hand, market opening and creating new economic and investment opportunities and, on the other, a process of regulatory convergence to ensure a level playing field with fair competition conditions.

25. The EU-CH, Euro-Med and ECAA agreements obviously fall under the second pillar, as do the mandates requested by the Commission for negotiations with Russia and Ukraine in March and November 2005, respectively.

26. The US-EU agreement, instead, falls under the third pillar, as do the mandates requested by the Commission to negotiate with China (March 2005), Australia (September 2005), New Zealand (September 2005), Chile (September 2005), India (September 2005) and Canada (January 2007).

27. As to the first pillar, this covers the "horizontal agreements" initialled to date by the Commission with 25 countries. A "horizontal agreement" is an agreement that the Commission negotiates on behalf of EC Member States and that aims to bring all existing bilateral ASAs between Member States and third countries in line with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) "open skies" judgments of November 2002. The ECJ found that, if an ASA between a Member State and a third country permitted designation only of airlines "substantially owned and effectively controlled" by nationals of the signatory Member State, such designation was discriminatory and in breach of EC law (see also document S/C/W/270/Add.1, page I.33, paragraphs 65-66 and Annex B-II on page I.81). These agreements will not be analysed in detail at this stage, since they essentially target only one clause (i.e. withholding) out of the eleven (third/fourth, fifth and seventh freedom and cabotage; capacity; designation; withholding; pricing; exchange of statistics; and cooperative arrangements) assessed with the QUASAR methodology. Box 2 provides more details on horizontal agreements.

Box 2

The consequences of the ECJ "open skies" rulings

on EC Member States' existing bilateral ASAs

"At the June 2003 Transport Council, the Commission and the Member States agreed on the modalities to solve the issues identified by the Court.

Two methods were identified for amending the existing bilateral air services agreements: either bilateral negotiations between each Member State concerned and its partners, amending each bilateral ASA separately, or the negotiation of single "horizontal" agreements, with the Commission acting on a mandate of the Member States of the EU. Each "horizontal" Agreement aims at amending relevant provisions of all existing bilateral ASAs in the context of a single negotiation with one third country.

Between June 2003 and February 2007, the method of separate bilateral negotiations [...] led to changes with 43 partner States, representing 89 bilateral agreements corrected. Under the second option, horizontal negotiations have led to changes with 25 partner States, representing an additional 373 bilateral agreements.

It should be noted that traffic rights - i.e. the provisions of existing ASAs relating to the number of airlines that may be designated and any frequency, capacity or other traffic rights - remain unaffected by the concept of Community designation. While the number of airlines which an EU Member State may consider for eligibility for designation will increase, the number of airlines which can actually be designated, provided that they are established, will remain subject to the provisions and restrictions of existing bilateral Agreements. Unless EU Member States decide otherwise, future amendments to bilateral ASAs concerning air traffic rights will be negotiated bilaterally by each EU Member State, and not by the European Commission. There will be no effect on the volume or balance of air traffic rights previously agreed between a partner State and an individual EU Member State, and existing bilateral Air Services Agreements remain in force after amendment. The aim of amending the bilateral ASAs is to eliminate the element of legal uncertainty and ensure the continued application of those Agreements. [emphasis added]

The objective to bring existing bilateral agreements into line with Community law, attributable to “open skies” case law, is vitally important not only for the EC and its Member States but also for the third countries concerned and for the aviation sector, airlines and the users. It is doubly essential in order to: guarantee the same rights to all Community operators, by virtue of the principles of non-discrimination and freedom of establishment; and ensure the legal certainty of aviation relations based on such agreements. Consequently, this objective will need to be accomplished efficiently and within a reasonable time scale. To this end, complementarity must be promoted with respect to the tools available, thereby leading to greater flexibility and efficiency.

Bilateral negotiations by a Member State are covered by Regulation (EC)847/2004, which provides for the insertion into the agreement under discussion of standard clauses reflecting Community competence and legislation. In this way, existing agreements can be brought into line with Community law in the context of the regular ongoing contacts between Member States and their partners, thereby ensuring the continuity and development of international air services while at the same time paying due regard to the new state of affairs prevailing in the sector.

The standard clauses provided for in the Regulation were drawn up jointly by the Commission and the Member States. In an effort to ensure flexibility, an examination will be conducted, in accordance with the comitology procedure, of any cases where it has not been possible to incorporate these clauses in an agreement. In such instances, it may be possible to authorise the conclusion of agreements which do not undermine the objectives of the EC’s common transport policy and which do not otherwise contravene Community law. However, an agreement which does not include the Community designation clause (whereby all Community carriers resident in the territory of the Member State in question are allowed to apply for available traffic rights) would contradict the objectives of this common policy. Indeed, in breach of the principle of freedom of establishment laid down in Article 43 of the EC Treaty, such an agreement would continue to discriminate between Community companies on the grounds of nationality.

A significant number of bilateral agreements between Member States and third countries have already been amended. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of agreements which need to be adapted in order to bring them into line with Community law".

Source: EC Commission at: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/international/pillars/horizontal_agreements_en.htm

3. Lack of information on signature, ratification and entry into force

28. The second methodological limitation is linked to the lack of precise information about signature, ratification and date of entry force of various plurilateral ASAs for their respective parties. In fact, even if agreements generally indicate the date when they were signed and set a date for entry into force (subject to a certain minimum number of ratifications), it is often unclear if these agreements have entered into force given that no systematic information about the status of the ratification processes is available from ICAO.

29. In the WTO Secretariat's analysis, the information about membership, signature, ratification and entry into force of the plurilateral agreements is up to date as at October 2006, unless otherwise indicated.

Members may wish to correct, update or complement the information about signature, ratification and entry into force of the various plurilateral ASAs contained in the individual profiles.

4. Lack of information on the effective degree of implementation

30. Even when plurilateral agreements have entered into force, their degree of effective implementation varies notably. The considerable literature produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) about the difficulties resulting from the non-application of the Yamoussoukro declaration is a case in point. It is corroborated by an assessment by the former Deputy Director of the Air Transport Bureau of ICAO, Mr Chris Lyle, who writes:

"the [agreements] related to the European Union are substantive in effect, as are the CLMV, MALIAT and the three current intra-ASEAN agreements (BST, IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA). However, the others are largely ineffective, either failing implementation in practice or honored in the breach. One reason for this is that there is no strong underlying economic authority for the regions concerned."

31. In certain instances, the fate of some agreements, e.g. the Andean Pact, is uncertain due to wider political circumstances.

5. Imperfect application of the QUASAR methodology

32. A fourth limitation of the analysis relates to the fact that the QUASAR methodology, which had been developed to study bilateral ASAs, is not always easily transposable to plurilateral agreements. For instance, some plurilaterals (e.g. PIASA) distinguish between fifth freedom traffic rights within the plurilateral (allowed) and fifth freedom rights outside the plurilateral (not allowed in the transitional period), whereas the QUASAR methodology has only foreseen one binary option (i.e. yes/no) with regard to the granting of fifth freedom rights. Similarly, for the withholding clause, the Fortaleza Agreement refers back to national legislations or policies and these may differ widely between signatories (e.g. "substantial ownership and effective control" in Brazil, "principal place of business" in Chile). In such cases, clauses pertaining to each signatory should ideally be analysed and scored separately, and a traffic-weighted average should then be computed.

33. Another example relates to the "principal place of business" withholding provisions. "Principal place of business" is a wider concept in the context of a plurilateral ASA than it is in a bilateral one, because this clause allows any operator (national of a party to the plurilateral or otherwise) to settle in any of the parties to the plurilateral, which are more (over 50 in the case of Yamoussoukro) than the two involved in a bilateral ASA. In this regard, additional weight may need to be assigned to this withholding clause.

Time constraints have not allowed the Secretariat to refine the QUASAR methodology for application to plurilateral ASAs, but the Secretariat stands ready to undertake such work if Members so wish.

6. Difficulties related to the coding of plurilateral ASAs

34. In the case of plurilateral ASAs, there exists no pre-existing coding of the provisions comparable to the ICAO WASA coding for bilateral ASAs. The WTO Secretariat has therefore had to code the provisions of plurilateral agreements itself in order to subsequently attempt to compute their Air Liberalisation Index (ALI) and to identify the corresponding ASA type (for more information on the ALI and the ASA types, see document S/C/W/270/Add.1, pages I.12-I.17). In order to allow for possible corrections by the signatories concerned, the coding has been carried out in a transparent manner. Cases where the Secretariat has faced difficulties and has had to make somewhat arbitrary choices are clearly indicated (see, below, Table 4 of the profiles for plurilateral agreements).

35. At the same time, however, the availability of the full text of these agreements, rather than only the ICAO coded summaries as in the case of bilateral ASAs, has allowed for a more detailed, nuanced and accurate assessment of their degree of liberalization. For instance, it has been possible to identify instances when fifth freedom traffic rights have been granted with and without limitations, to distinguish between consecutive and stand-alone cabotage, and to analyse, where applicable, areas not covered by QUASAR, such as cargo and non-scheduled services.

36. The profiles of plurilateral ASAs have thus been adapted so as to capture these additional elements and nuances. However, for the sake of consistency with the bilateral application of QUASAR, the computation of tentative ALIs does not include these additional elements. For instance, even when the granting of fifth freedom traffic rights is subject to limitations, the totality, rather than just a share, of the points attributable to fifth freedom rights has been given.

37. Similarly, when geographically limited seventh freedom rights have been granted (i.e. by the United States to EU carriers operating between the territory of the United States and ECAA countries that are not EU Member States under the US-EU agreement), the totality of the points attributable to seventh freedom rights has been assigned to the agreement, even if those seventh freedom rights only apply to carriers of one of the two parties (i.e. the EU carriers) and only to a very limited geographical area (i.e. between the United States and Norway, Iceland and the Balkan States). Nevertheless, in view of the limited character of that concession, those points have been indicated in parenthesis, so as to signal it to the reader.

38. The only exception to this "indivisibility" of the QUASAR points is the case of asymmetrical withholding clauses. As explained in more detail in the sections of the present documentation dealing with ownership, the withholding clauses contained in bilateral ASAs are traditionally symmetrical, i.e. identical and equally applicable to both parties. In most instances, the applicable clause is that of "substantial ownership and effective control" (SOEC), and only in marginal cases that of "principal place of business" (PPOB) or of "community of interest" (COI).

39. The 2002 European Court of Justice "open skies" judgements and the subsequent EC policy of renegotiating the withholding clauses in Members States' bilateral ASAs have resulted in hundreds of new agreements containing asymmetrical withholding clauses, i.e. "community of interest" on the EC side and, usually, "substantial ownership and effective control" on the partner's side.

40. In such instances, where the QUASAR market access features present multiple variants (in the case at hand, the SOEC, COI or PPOB alternatives), rather than the binary granted/non-granted option, the methodology allows in principle for a differentiated attribution of points. As a result, in its application to plurilateral agreements the QUASAR points for the different withholding clauses have been averaged. For instance in the case of a SOEC-COI combination, the standard ALI weighing system results in a total of 2 points (0 points for SOEC plus 4 points for COI, divided by two).

41. In the case of the agreements involving the EC and its Member States, the profiles in general, and Table 1 thereof in particular, were partially inadequate to capture the complexity of the provisions involved and have thus been complemented with regard to, first, the freedoms and, second, the Weighted Air Liberalisation Index (WALI).

42. First, as concerns the freedoms of the air, in the case of agreements not involving the EC, these are defined by reference to the territory of each party. In the case of EC and its Member States, however, there are really three types of parties involved: the Member States, with their individual territories; the EC, composed of the addition of the territories of its Members States (save for their ultramarine territories) and sometimes referred to as a whole; and the third party or parties, each with their own territory.

43. As a result, when considering fifth, eighth and ninth freedoms, it is necessary to indicate if those freedoms are defined by reference to the territory of each individual Member State or the territory of the EC as a whole. An additional difficulty lies in the fact that, in most instances, agreements involving the EC and its Member States do not refer to "freedoms" strictly speaking but to rights granted between territories.

44. These difficulties have been addressed by conforming to the European Commission practice of defining the freedoms by reference to the territories of the individual Member States and, so as to avoid ambiguity, by reproducing in Table 1 the text of the grant of rights clause, in full or, if too long, in a summarised version.

45. Second, with regard to the WALIs, since the EC external aviation policy is not fully harmonized (for more details on this point, see Box 2) a WALI has not been computed for the EC as a whole (which is why, in Table 1 of the relevant profiles, the WALI of the EC is indicated as not available) but rather for the individual EC Member States.

46. Furthermore, in certain instances, an additional table or box has been included at the end of the profile of the agreements involving the EC and its Member States. This has been rendered necessary by the need to describe the complex and lengthy conditions of regulatory harmonisation found in many of these agreements, which constitute a precondition for the granting of market access.

Annex I

Bilateral EC ASAs brought into legal conformity since the European Court of Justice

"open skies" judgments, as at 5 July 2007

Community designation agreed bilaterally with at least one EC Member State

Community designation agreed under the Community Agreement with the EC or through formal Record of Consultations

Discussions ongoing with the EC

Third country

ASAs amended

Agreement initialled/signed

ASAs amended

Afghanistan

Algeria

Antigua & Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

BahrainBarbados

Belarus

BelizeBolivia

Brunei

Cambodia

Cape Verde

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dem. Rep. of Congo

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

FijiGambia

GhanaGranada

Guinea-Bissau

Indonesia

IranJamaica

Kuwait

Macau

MadagascarMauritius

Mongolia

Netherlands Antilles

North Korea

Peru

QatarSaint Lucia

Senegal

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Suriname

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Togo

Turkmenistan

Uganda

UzbekistanVenezuela

Zambia

1

6

1

5

1

5

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

5

2

2

3

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

2

3

1

1

2

1

2

10

1

4

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

Albania

Australia

Azerbaijan

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bulgaria1

Chile

Croatia

FYROM

Georgia

Jordan

Kyrgyzstan

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Moldova

Morocco

New Zealand

Panama

Paraguay

Romania1

Serbia and Montenegro

Singapore

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States

Uruguay

Vietnam

13

14

18

9

22

10

25

14

14

21

5

19

21

8

17

20

12

6

6

21

20

23

27

23

21

9

17

Argentina

Bangladesh

Canada

China

Colombia

Egypt

Hong Kong, China

India

Israel

Jamaica

Kazakhstan

Macau, China

Mexico

Mongolia

Nepal

Nigeria

Russian Federation

South Africa

South Korea

Turkey

WAEMU

Uzbekistan

Total: 51

98

27

435

29

TOTAL number of third countries: 96

TOTAL number of bilateral ASAs brought into legal conformity: 533

1 Bulgaria and Romania joined the EC on 1 January 2007.

Source: European Commission (July 2007).

PART B

LEGAL AND TRAFFIC PROFILES OF PLURILATERAL AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS

C. Legal and traffic profiles of plurilateral Air Services Agreements

47. This part contains the individual profiles of the 21 plurilateral agreements retained by the Secretariat in its analysis. The agreements are presented in alphabetical order, separately for the two ICAO sub-lists (see section A). All profiles are identical (save for the additional information contained in the profiles of some of the agreements involving the EC and its Member States) and made up of the following elements:

· The acronym and full name of the plurilateral, plus a box indicating the source of the text of the agreement and of other relevant information, if any.

· A map, illustrating the membership of the agreement.

· Table 1, containing information about: the members of the agreement and their respective WALIs; the date of signature and, if available, the date of entry into force of the agreement; the main market access provisions coded in QUASAR (i.e. third to ninth freedom traffic rights; withholding, designation, capacity and pricing clauses; and, under "other QUASAR", provisions on cooperative arrangements and exchange of statistics), cross-referenced to the relevant articles of the plurilateral agreement, so as to allow for verification by the Members concerned; and a tentative Air Liberalization Index and ASA type, as computed in Table 4 (see below).

· Table 2, describing the other salient features of the plurilateral agreement that are not captured by the QUASAR methodology, but are nevertheless of interest.

· Table 3, relating the provisions governing the relationship between the plurilateral agreement and other ASAs and third parties.

· Table 4, detailing the QUASAR market access elements found in the plurilateral and, on this basis, computing a tentative Air Liberalization Index and identifying a tentative ASA type. The market access features present in the plurilateral are identified by being aligned to the right of the relevant cell in the first column. The "Observations" column describes the difficulties faced by the Secretariat in the coding process, if any, and the choices made. In case of transitional periods for phased-in liberalization, only the final ALI and type have been, respectively, computed and identified. The Secretariat stands ready, however, to compute transitory ALIs and to identify transitory types if Members so wish.

· Table 5, containing information on the contribution of each individual member of the plurilateral to the total traffic of the agreement (in absolute and percentage terms) and on the relative importance of the plurilateral in the total international traffic of each member. All traffic calculations in Table 5 and in Table 6 (below) are based on the 2005 country-pair traffic data kindly provided to the WTO Secretariat by IATA. However, as the computations in both these tables are based on the assumption that the plurilateral agreement concerned is fully applied (which, as discussed in section A, is not always the case), they should be read with caution.

· Table 6, indicating the total traffic covered by the plurilateral and computing the agreement's share of total international traffic.

· Table 7, identifying those bilateral relations within the plurilateral agreement that are covered by a direct service (indicated by a cross in the relevant cell of the table). A direct service is a service operated between two points by IATA member airlines under the same flight number, and the source of these data is the summer 2006 IATA mileage set.

48. The index of the plurilateral agreements profiled is contained after a mock profile, covering Tables 1 to 7, for a hypothetical plurilateral agreement Z.

PLURILATERAL AGREEMENT Z

Table 1

QUASAR-coded provisions

Members

WALI

(STD)

Date of signature

3rd freedom

4th freedom

5th freedom

6th freedom

7th freedom

8th freedom

9th freedom

A

B

C

D

E

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Date of entry into force

Withholding

Designation

Capacity

Tariffs

Other

QUASAR

Tentative ALI (STD)

Tentative type

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Notes:WALI = (Traffic-) Weighted Air Liberalisation Index; ALI = Air Liberalisation Index; STD = Standard weighting methodology.

Source: WTO Secretariat.


Table 2

Other salient features

Features

Provision

Description or text


Table 3

Relationship with other Air Services Agreements and third parties

Air Services Agreements/third parties concerned

Provision

Description or text

Past bilateral ASAs amongst members of the plurilateral

Past and future bilateral ASAs between members of the plurilateral and third parties

Provision to address overlaps with other plurilateral agreements

Accession provisions for third parties



Table 4

Tentative Air Liberalisation Index and type

Elements

Standard ALI

5th+

ALI

OWN+

ALI

DES+

ALI

Observations

Freedoms

5th freedom

6 if present

0 if absent

12 if present

0 if absent

5 if present

0 if absent

5.5 if present

0 if absent

7th freedom

6 if present

0 if absent

5 if present

0 if absent

5 if present

0 if absent

5.5 if present

0 if absent

Cabotage

6 if present

0 if absent

5 if present

0 if absent

5 if present

0 if absent

5.5 if present

0 if absent

Capacity

Pre-determination

0

0

0

0

"Bermuda 1"

4

3.5

3.5

3.5

Free determination

8

7

7

7.5

Other

Tariffs

Double approval

0

0

0

0

Country of origin

3

2.5

2.5

2.5

Double disapproval

6

5

5

5.5

Zone pricing

4 or 7

3.5 or 6

3.5 or 6

3.5 or 6.5

Free pricing

8

7

7

7.5

Withholding

Substantial ownership and effective control

0

0

0

0

Community of interest

4

3.5

7

3.5

Principal place of business

8

7

14

7.5

Designation

Single designation

0

0

0

0

Multiple designation

4

3.5

3.5

7.5

Other market access elements

Exchange of statistics

1 if absent

0 if present

1 if absent

0 if present

1 if absent

0 if present

1 if absent

0 if present

Cooperative arrangements

3 if present

0 if absent

2.5 if present

0 if absent

2.5 if present

0 if absent

2.5 if present

0 if absent

Tentative ALI

Tentative Type



Table 5

Traffic relations of individual members of the plurilateral agreement

Members

Traffic with the other members of the plurilateral agreement

Contribution of each member to the total traffic of the plurilateral

agreement

Total international traffic of the member

Share of the plurilateral agreement within total international traffic of the member

(pax)

(%)

(pax)

(%)

A

B

C

D

E

Notes:Traffic data is IATA country-pair data for 2005. Pax = passengers.


Table 6

Traffic covered by the plurilateral agreement

Total traffic covered by the plurilateral agreement

Total international traffic

Share of the plurilateral agreement within total international traffic

(pax)

(pax)

(%)

495,343,012

Notes:Traffic data is IATA country-pair data for 2005. Pax = passengers.



Table 7

Traffic relations covered by a direct service within the plurilateral agreement

Member A

Member B

Member C

Member D

Member E

Member A

x

Member B

x

Member C

x

Member D

Member E

x

Notes:A direct service is a service operated under the same flight number by IATA member airlines, based on summer 2006 IATA mileage data.


Index of the plurilateral Air Services Agreements profiled

Plurilateral ASA

Page number

Sub-list I

ACAC

31

Andean Pact

39

Banjul

47

BIMP-EAGA

55

CARICOM-MASA

63

CEMAC

71

CLMV

79

COMESA

87

ECAA

95

EU-CH

105

Euro-Med

113

Fortaleza

123

IATA44

131

IMT-GT

139

MALIAT

145

US-EU

153

Yamoussoukro

165

Sub-list II

ACS

175

ASEAN Roadmap

183

PIASA

191

WAEMU

199

ACAC

(Intra-Arab Freedom of the Air Programme

of the Arab Civil Aviation Commission)

· The text of the agreement is available (in Arabic only) at: www.acac.org.ma

· An English translation by the WTO Secretariat is available on request.

· A summary titled "Liberalization of Air Transport Services among ACAC Members", presented by Oman on behalf of the Members of ACAC at the 35th session of the ICAO Assembly (document A35-WP/217 EC/36, dated 27 September 2004) is available at: www.icao.int/cgi/goto_m_atb.pl?icao/en/atb/ecp/Databases.htm

ACAC

ACAC

Table 1


Members

WALI

(STD)

Date of signature

3rd freedom

4th freedom

5th freedom

6th freedom

7th freedom

8th freedom

9th freedom

Algeria

Bahrain

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Iraq

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia

UAE

Yemen

6.1

10.2

6.0

10.0

9.5

2.2

12.1

2.3

9.7

10.3

8.2

10.5

7.3

10.7

9.3

6.6

10.0

8.2

9.9

11.3

3.0

19 December 2004

Yes within the territory covered by the agreement:

"The air transport company/companies designated in accordance with the provisions of this agreement shall enjoy the exercise of the following air transport rights....c) the right to embark and disembark passengers, cargo and post whether separately or combined to and from any of the territories of the State Parties"

(Article 4.2c)

No.

"This agreement shall not impose on the States Parties the granting of Domestic air transport rights"

(Article 4.3)


Withholding

Designation

Capacity

Tariffs

Other QUASAR

Tentative ALI (STD)

Tentative type

Immediately after the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification

(Article 38)


(Article 5.2a)

Multidesignation

(Article 5.1)

Free determination

(Article 7.1)

Free pricing subject to filing (but not to approval) and to guidelines to prevent anti-competitive practices

(Article 8 and Annex I)


(Article 13)


(Article 18)

39

G

ACAC

Table 2


Features

Provision

Description or text

Scheduled cargo services

Article 2.1

Same regime as passenger services

Non-scheduled air transport services

Annex 4

Subject to the rule of the country of origin but with fifth freedom rights within the agreements and free capacity

Selling and marketing

Article 12

Full rights of establishment, currency conversion and transfer

Ground handling

Article 12.5

Right to self-handle and to use mutual and third party handling

Dry and wet leasing

Article 15

Full right to lease, including from third party lessors

Computer Reservation Systems (CRS)

Article 17

Application of the Arab code of conduct for CRS

Subsidies

Article 19

Principle of self-restraint and consultation

ACAC

Table 3



Provision

Description or text

Past bilateral ASAs between members of the plurilateral

Article 2.3

"The provisions of this Agreement shall supersede any conflicting provisions of the bilateral or multilateral agreements concluded to regulate air transport between the States Parties. Any provisions of such agreements that are not stipulated in this Agreement shall remain in force."


Article 31

"1. The States Parties shall not grant rights or give undertakings to third party States where such rights or undertakings could restrict or affect the rights conferred upon the States Parties under this Agreement.

2. The rights conferred upon the States Parties under this Agreement shall not be subject to individual negotiations or dealings with any third party state or states where such negotiations or dealings could affect the rights of the other State Party/States Parties.

3. The arrangements and mechanisms relating to group or multilateral negotiations referred to in paragraph (2) of this article shall be subject to a regulatory framework in the form of an agreement which shall enter into force in accordance with the constitutional procedures of each State."


Article 34

"1. Any State Party linked to another State Party or third party State by commitments in the field of air transport which are in conflict with the provisions of this Agreement shall take the necessary steps to release itself from such commitments without delay.

2. Any State Party whose air transport company/companies has/have entered into commitments which are in conflict with this Agreement shall take the steps necessary to secure release from such obligations as soon as possible.

3. The State Party concerned shall inform the General Secretariat to the Commission of the steps taken in respect of the two eventualities referred to above."

Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia and Tunisia are also members of Yamoussoukro.

Comoros, Egypt, Djibouti and Sudan are also members of COMESA and of Yamoussoukro


Article 32

"The State Party/States Parties shall have the right to exchange the air transport rights stipulated in this agreement on a basis of reciprocity with any alliance of third party states grouped in a regional or sub-regional economic integration organization. To this end, the States Parties may call on the assistance of the Arab Civil Aviation Commission or any other negotiating body which may be entrusted with this task."

ACAC

Table 4


Elements

Standard ALI

5th+

ALI

OWN+

ALI

DES+

ALI

Observations

Freedoms

5th freedom

6

12

5

5.5

7th freedom

6

5

5

5.5

Cabotage

Capacity

Pre-determination

"Bermuda 1"

Free determination

8

7

7

7.5

Other

Tariffs

Double approval

The "free determination" principle must, however, be read in light of Annex I "Criteria and procedures for fixing tariffs".

Country of origin

Double disapproval

Zone pricing

Free pricing

8

7

7

7.5

Withholding



4

3.5

7

3.5


Designation

Single designation


4

3.5

3.5

7.5




3

2.5

2.5

2.5

Tentative ALI

39

40.5

37

39.5

Tentative Type

G

ACAC

Table 5

Traffic relations of the individual members of the plurilateral agreement

Members



agreement



(pax)

(%)

(pax)

(%)

Algeria

424,026

1.3

4,083,938

10.4

Bahrain

1,790,269

5.6

2,884,923

62.1

Comoros

67,383

0.2

463,065

14.6

Djibouti

162,299

0.5

298,326

54.4

Egypt

4,421,986

13.9

8,367,133

52.8

Iraq

101,074

0.3

102,600

98.5

Jordan

1,644,140

5.2

2,889,672

56.9

Kuwait

2,403,767

7.5

4,580,693

52.5

Lebanon

1,666,375

5.2

3,447,567

48.3

Libya

666,480

2.1

1,415,448

47.1

Mauritania

66,986

0.2

245,745

27.3

Morocco

621,775

2.0

5,532,719

11.2

Oman

775,181

2.4

2,175,943

35.6

Qatar

1,874,997

5.9

3,382,655

55.4

Saudi Arabia

4,892,173

15.3

11,381,756

43.0

Somalia

64,170

0.2

97,523

65.8

Sudan

945,215

3.0

1,227,321

77.0

Syria

1,590,182

5.0

2,585,545

61.5

Tunisia

668,042

2.1

3,943,564

16.9

UAE

6,299,414

19.8

20,607,321

30.6

Yemen

739,898

2.3

1,026,309

72.1

ACAC

Table 6





(pax)

(pax)

(%)

15,942,916

495,343,012

3.2

Table 7


Alg.

Bahr.

Com.

Dji.

Egy.

Iraq

Jor.

Kuw.

Leb.

Libya

Maur.

Mor.

Om.

Qatar

SaudiA

Som.

Sud.

Syr.

Tun.

UAE

Yem.

Algeria

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Bahrain

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Comoros

x

x

x

x

Djibouti

x

x

x

x

x

Egypt

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Iraq

x

x

Jordan

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Kuwait

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Lebanon

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Libya

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Mauritania

x

x

x

Morocco

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Oman

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Qatar

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Saudi Arabia

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Somalia

x

x

x

Sudan

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Syria

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Tunisia

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

UAE

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Yemen

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

ANDEAN PACT

(Decision on the Integration of Air Transport within the Andean Pact)

· The text of decision 582 of the Andean Pact, consolidating decisions 297, 320, 360 and 361, is available (in Spanish only) at: http://www.comunidadandina.org/normativa/dec/d582.htm

· A summary in English can be found at:

http://www.ftaa-alca./org/Wgroups/WGSV/SAgreem/English/Sv_p231.asp

· A summary by ICAO, titled "Andean Open Skies Pact" and dated February 2003, is available at:www.icao.int/cgi/goto_m_atb.pl?icao/en/atb/ecp/Databases.htm

ANDEAN PACT

ANDEAN PACT

Table 1


Members

WALI

(STD)

Date of signature

3rd freedom

4th freedom

5th freedom

6th freedom

7th freedom

8th freedom

9th freedom

Bolivia

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

[Venezuela, Boliv. Rep]

9.5

11.8

12.5

22.7

8.0

D297:

16 May 1991

D320:

17 June 1992

D360:

27 May 1994

D361:

27 May 1994

D582:

4 May 2004

Unlimited

(Article 6)

Within the agreement: unlimited

(Article 6)

Extra-regional: flights subject to bilateral or multilateral negotiations maintaining the principle of equity and under appropriate compensation formulae

(Article 9 )

No

No

No

No


Withholding

Designation

Capacity

Tariffs

Other

QUASAR

Tentative ALI (STD)

Tentative type

Same dates as above, since Andean Community decisions are immediately self implementing except if indicated otherwise


(Article 12)

Multi-designation

(Article 11)

Free determination

(Article 6)

Country of origin

(Article 20)

Cooperative arrangement clause

(Article 23)

33

O

ANDEAN PACT

Table 2


Features

Provision

Description or text

Scheduled cargo services (separately or in combination)

Articles 6 and 9

Unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedom rights within the agreement.

Extra-regional flights are subject to bilateral or multilateral negotiations maintaining the principle of equity and under appropriate compensation formulae

Non-scheduled cargo services

Articles 8 and 10

Unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedom rights within the agreement.

Unlimited fifth freedom rights for flights between Member States and third countries

Non-scheduled passenger services

Article 7 and 9

Within the agreement, for flights between city-pairs not already served: unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedom rights; for other city-pairs: granting of third, fourth and fifth freedom rights subject to an economic needs test.

"Member States ... shall establish the conditions for the realization of non scheduled passenger flights that take place between Member States and third countries"

Computer Reservation Systems (CRS)

Article 22

Applicability of the ICAO code of conduct

ANDEAN PACT

Table 3



Provision

Description or text

Past and future bilateral ASAs between members of the plurilateral

Articles 2, 3 and 27

"Member States shall revise the bilateral agreements or other legal instruments in force among them so as to adapt them to the free exchange of aero-commercial intra-sub-regional rights that fulfil the community interest, ensure a fair competition as well as the quality and efficiency of air transport services."

"Member States shall apply the decision to passenger, cargo and mail, scheduled or non scheduled, international air transport services provided separately or in combination, among their respective territories and between their territories and third countries."

"This decision does not imply, under any circumstances, restrictions to the advantages which the Members States have granted each other or which they could grant each other, by means of bilateral or multilateral agreements or conventions."


Articles 2 and 26(h)

"Member States shall apply the decision to passenger, cargo and mail, scheduled or non scheduled, international air transport services provided separately or in combination, among their respective territories and between their territories and third countries."

"The Aeronautical Authorities Andean Committee will have the following functions: [...] to propose joint positions for negotiations with third countries in order to obtain maximal benefits for the region."


None

Bolivia and Peru are also members of the Fortaleza agreement.

Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are also members of the ACS agreement.


None

ANDEAN PACT

Table 4


Elements

Standard ALI

5th+

ALI

OWN+

ALI

DES+

ALI

Observations

Freedoms

5th freedom

6

12

5

5.5

7th freedom

Cabotage

Capacity

Pre-determination

"Bermuda 1"

Free determination

8

7

7

7.5

Other

Tariffs

Double approval

Country of origin

3

2.5

2.5

2.5

Double disapproval

Zone pricing

Free pricing

Withholding




8

7

14

7.5

Designation

Single designation


4

3.5

3.5

7.5



1

1

1

1


3

2.5

2.5

2.5

Tentative ALI

33

35.5

35.5

34

Tentative Type

O

Type O is due to the "country of origin" tariff clause; with respect to all other provisions, the agreement would be of type G.

ANDEAN PACT

Table 5

Traffic relations of the individual members of the plurilateral agreement

Members



agreement



(pax)

(%)

(pax)

(%)

Bolivia

86,388

4.0

700,448

12.3

Colombia

693,952

32.5

3,89,413

17.8

Ecuador

449,081

21.0

2,156,369

20.8

Peru

390,018

18.3

2,908,830

13.4

[Venezuela, Boliv. Rep.]

517,007

24.2

3,472,733

14.9

Table 6





(pax)

(pax)

(%)

1,068,223

495,343,012

0.2

ANDEAN PACT

Table 7


Destination

Origin

Bolivia

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

[Venezuela, B.R.]

Bolivia

x

x

x

x

Colombia

x

x

x

x

Ecuador

x

x

x

x

Peru

x

x

x

x

[Venezuela, B.R.]

x

x

x

x

BANJUL

(Banjul Accord Group Agreement)

· The text of the agreement is available on request from the Secretariat.

BANJUL

BANJUL

Table 1


Members

WALI

(STD)

Date of signature

3rd freedom

4th freedom

5th freedom

6th freedom

7th freedom

8th freedom

9th freedom

Cape Verde

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea Bissau

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

16.4

9.0

9.9

0.0

7.5

12.2

29 January 2004

Yes, by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

(Articles 1 and 3.1)

No specific provision

Explicit exclusion

(Article 5.2)


Withholding

Designation

Capacity

Tariffs

Other QUASAR

Tentative ALI (STD)

Tentative type

After the fifth ratification (Article 15.2)

Community of interest,

by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

Multidesignation, by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

Free determination, by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

Free pricing with filing for increases, by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

Cooperative arrangements, by cross-reference to Yamoussoukro

34

G

BANJUL

Table 2


Features

Provision

Description or text

-

-

-

Table 3



Provision

Description or text

Past bilateral ASAs between members of the plurilateral

Article 15.4

"Upon the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions enshrined herein shall supersede any existing multilateral or bilateral agreements on air services between and or among Member States, which are incompatible with this Agreement."


-

-


-

All members of the Banjul Agreement are also members of Yamoussoukro.


Article 4.1

"Membership of the Banjul Accord Group is open to States, State Agencies and Eligible Airlines within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other African sub-regions subject to the following:

4.1.1 that the main objectives or actions of such interested States, State Agencies and Eligible Airlines are consistent with the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Declaration, the Decision and this Agreement; and

4.1.2 that such application for membership receives the approval of at least two-thirds of the Member States of the Group."

BANJUL

Table 4


Elements

Standard ALI

5th+

ALI

OWN+

ALI

DES+

ALI

Observations

Freedoms

5th freedom

6

12

5

5.5

7th freedom

Cabotage

Capacity

Pre-determination

"Bermuda 1"

Free determination

8

7

7

7.5

Other

Tariffs

Double approval

Country of origin

Double disapproval

Zone pricing

Free pricing

8

7

7

7.5

Withholding



4

3.5

7

3.5


Designation

Single designation


4

3.5

3.5

7.5


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