FRANCE: INFORMATION ON CODESHARING WITH RUSSIAN

UNCLAS PARIS 005947

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE: INFORMATION ON CODESHARING WITH RUSSIAN
FEDERATION

REF: SECSTATE 153814


1. (U) Note 4.6 of the Annex to the Air Services Agreement
between France and the Russian Federation, signed in Moscow 2
July 2001 states that "any cooperative agreement relative to
commercializing services such as joint operations and
code-sharing operations between transportation companies of
the contracting parties or third-parties requires a specific
agreement between the aviation authorities of the contracting
parties." The text in French has been pouched to EB/TRA and
faxed to EB/TRA and DOT as requested reftel.


2. (SBU) Econoff discussed the issue with Emmanuel Vivet,
head of the Air Services Agreement Office at the Civil
Aviation Authority. France has a codeshare agreement with the
Russian Federation, allowing Air France and Aeroflot to carry
the each other's designations on the Paris-Moscow route.


3. (SBU) In general he thought the Russians were "too
prudent" to agree to arrangements that might open their
market, absent a strong compensating advantage. He thought it
would be "very difficult" to get agreement for a third-party
code-share for a U.S. airline via France, given that the
Russia did not participate in any alliance and had little
direct interest in such an arrangement. On the other hand,
given the strength of the Air France-KLM partnership, Russia
had agreed to "remain open" to proposition for KLM codeshares
on Air France flights, if at some point the two companies
were interested. This suggests that such an arrangement is
not beyond the realm of possibility.
STAPLETON