I read through it and I am not good at breaking down legal jargon but articl 13 "Leasing" seem to leave the door open still????
1. Without prejudice to Article 4(c), a Community air carrier
may have one or more aircraft at its disposal through dry or wet
lease agreement. Community air carriers may freely operate wetleased
aircraft registered within the Community except where
this would lead to endangering safety. The Commission shall
ensure that the implementation of such a provision is reasonable
and proportionate and based on safety considerations.
2. A dry lease agreement to which a Community air carrier is a
party or a wet lease agreement under which the Community air
carrier is the lessee of the wet-leased aircraft shall be subject to
prior approval in accordance with applicable Community or
national law on aviation safety.
3. A Community air carrier wet leasing aircraft registered in a
third country from another undertaking shall obtain prior
approval for the operation from the competent licensing
authority. The competent authority may grant an approval if:
(a) the Community air carrier demonstrates to the satisfaction
of the competent authority that all safety standards
equivalent to those imposed by Community or national
law are met; and
(b) one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
(i) the Community air carrier justifies such leasing on the
basis of exceptional needs, in which case an approval
may be granted for a period of up to seven months
that may be renewed once for a further period of up
to seven months;
31.10.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 293/9
(ii) the Community air carrier demonstrates that the
leasing is necessary to satisfy seasonal capacity needs,
which cannot reasonably be satisfied through leasing
aircraft registered within the Community, in which
case the approval may be renewed; or
(iii) the Community air carrier demonstrates that the
leasing is necessary to overcome operational difficulties
and it is not possible or reasonable to lease aircraft
registered within the Community, in which case the
approval shall be of limited duration strictly necessary
for overcoming the difficulties.
4. The competent authority may attach conditions to the
approval. Such conditions shall form part of the wet lease
agreement.
The competent authority may refuse to grant an approval if there
is no reciprocity as regards wet leasing between the Member
State concerned or the Community and the third country where
the wet-leased aircraft is registered.
The competent authority shall inform the Member States
concerned about an approval it has granted for wet leasing
aircraft registered in a third country.