VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #2899/01 2511107
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081107Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6060
INFO RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL PRIORITY 0095
RUEANHA/FAA WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 002899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB/TRA/AVP; DEPT PASS FAA AND 
DOT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR DR
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HELD HOSTAGE 
BY LUGGAGE HANDLERS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Although the Dominican Government signed 
the 1986 and the 1999 Air Trade Agreements between the United 
States and the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Congress 
never ratified them.  According to Dominican civil aviation 
authorities, the agreements are not legally binding.  Airport 
managers point to Article 8.3 as the cause, stating that they 
do not want to lose the ground-handling business.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The 1949 Air Trade Agreement is the only ratified air 
trade agreement between the United States and the Dominican 
Republic.  Although a 1986 air trade agreement was signed 
between the two countries, the Dominican Congress never 
ratified it.  In December of 1999, the United States and the 
Dominican Republic signed the 1999 Air Trade Agreement.  The 
signing of this agreement was a step forward for Open Skies, 
which provides greater access and cheaper tickets to 
passengers, (taxes not included).  Unfortunately, the 1999 
Air Trade Agreement is not recognized by the Dominican 
Republic because the Dominican Congress has yet to ratify it. 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Many countries either refuse to sign the current 
air trade Open Skies agreements or ratify them because the 
host country would like to protect its national airline from 
the better operated, more efficient, and less costly foreign 
airlines.  However, the Dominican Republic does not have a 
national airline nor does it plan to start one anytime soon. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Some aviation experts tie the Dominican 
unwillingness to sign the Agreement with their current 
category status under the standards of the ICAO 
(International Civil Aviation Organization).  Applying the 
ICAO safety standards, the U.S. Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) has listed the Dominican Republic as 
Category 2, a ranking that prohibits Dominican airlines from 
flying to the United States.  This ranking has applied for 
the last 13 years.  Some analysts consider that a Category 2 
ranking dissuades some tourists from visiting because of 
aviation safety concerns.  However, the reality in the 
Dominican Republic is just the opposite.  The tourism sector 
has only grown, especially over the last 4 years, (for 2006, 
the Dominican Republic expects to see well over three million 
visitors, with about a third coming from the United States 
alone). 
 
¶5.  (U) But to be fair, the Dominican Republic is working 
hard to correct this status quo.  Over the last couple of 
years, the Dominican Republic has sought the technical 
expertise of the FAA to help craft the necessary changes in 
its laws and to train its flight inspectors better.  At the 
moment, the President's office plans to deliver to Congress a 
new aviation law that if passed, could pave the way for 
Category 1 status. 
 
---------------------------- 
Disagreeing about Agreements 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Category 1 status and the Open Skies Agreement are 
completely separate issues and the combination of the two is 
not the root cause for the lack of ratifying the agreement. 
Although some would like to believe that this is so, Embassy 
contacts point to a single article in the Agreement as the 
cause: Article 8.3.  Under Article 8, Commercial 
Opportunities, paragraph 3 provides that "each designated 
airline shall have the right to perform its own 
ground-handling in the territory of the other Party...The 
rights shall be subject only to physical constraints 
resulting from considerations of airport safety." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) This paragraph alone set off a major legal battle 
in 2004 between American Airlines and Aerodom, the private 
concessionaire for airport management for many airports in 
the Dominican Republic (the Hazoury family is the principal 
inivestor in Aerodom).  The U.S. airline wanted to perform 
its own ground-handling in the spirit of the 1999 Air Trade 
Agreement, but Aerodom balked, stating that the 1999 
agreement had not been ratified.  At the end of the day (back 
in 2005), the Dominican civil aviation board (DGAC) upheld 
Aerodom,s contention and issued a finding that according to 
the Dominican constitution the agreement is not binding 
because the Congress has yet to ratify it. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Getting congressional ratification of the 1999 Air 
Trade Agreement will entail an uphill battle, according to 
 
information from onversations with Aerodom and with the 
management of regional airports at La Romana, Puerto Plata, 
and Punta Cana, as well as e-mails from previous embassy 
aviation officers. None of the airport managers wants to lose 
the luggage-handling business. They have discussed with their 
congressional representatives their opposition to the 
agreement -- part of the reason that Congress has not 
considered ratification since the 1999 signature. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ivan Vsquez, deputy director for civil aviation, 
recently stressed the importance of presenting the 1999 
Agreement to the DGAC board.  Vasquez asserted that this was 
not a "trap" to undermine the agreement.  He claimed that 
Director General of Civil Aviation Norge Botello wanted the 
board to re-examine the text (yet again) before sending it to 
Congress.  Econoff responded to Vsquez that the agreement is 
already signed, but any questions from the DGAC board would 
be welcomed. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comment: The DGAC board has known about this 
agreement for many years.  They reviewed its status during 
the Aerodom dispute with American Airlines in 2004/2005. 
Putting the text to the board is another chance either to 
delay the ratification process or to attempt to reopen the 
agreement to negotiate Article 8.3.  The good news is that 
there is a new Congress. 
 
¶11. (U)  Drafted by Chris Davy. 
HERTELL