ECUADOR,S CIVAIR AUTHORITY HAS NO PROBLEM WITH

UNCLAS QUITO 000654

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR KTIA PGOV EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR,S CIVAIR AUTHORITY HAS NO PROBLEM WITH
CONTINENTAL,S PROPOSED DESIGNATION CHANGES

REF: STATE 049647


1. (SBU) Per Reftel, EconOff talked with GOE,s Director
General of Civil Aviation, Raphael Davila, about Continental
Airline,s desire to change its designation routes to
Ecuador. Davila said he had no problem with it and agreed
that the designation agreement of 1996 did not specify exact
routes that Continental must traverse. However, he said
their concession agreement does specify routes and must be
amended to permit the route changes. The power to authorize
these changes, he added, lies in the Civil Aviation Advisory
Board (Consejo de Aviacion Civil). He did not think having
the concession changed presented any problem, but that
Continental needed to take the necessary bureaucratic steps
to do it. He provided the name of Colonel Jorge Naranjo, an
Advisory Board member, as the person to broach about this
topic. He said the Advisory Board would send Continental,s
request to him for technical input, and that he would concur
with the request. With his concurrence, he noted, the
Advisory Board would surely approve the request.


2. (SBU) Post will pass this message to Continental,s
representative in Ecuador, along with a grain of salt. We
have all too often been promised immediate action only to be
kept waiting for results.

KENNEY