UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on January 21, 2011

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKETS DOT-OST-2006-24629

and DOT-OST-2006-24630 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no 

additional confirming order will be issued in this matter).

Applicant: YANGTZE RIVER EXPRESS AIRLINES CO., LTD. (Yangtze)

Date Filed: January 18, 2011

Relief requested: Exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109, and an amended foreign air carrier permit under 49 U.S.C. 

§ 41301, to engage in charter foreign air transportation of property and mail between a point or points in the People’s 

Republic of China, on the one hand, and a point or points in the United States, on the other hand.1

Yangtze also requests a statement of authorization under 14 C.F.R. Part 212, to conduct 54 one-way third and fourth 

freedom charter flights on a Shanghai-Quingdao-Los Angeles-Shanghai routing.2

Date and citation of last action: October 20, 2010, in this docket.

Applicant representative: Josh Romanow, 202-663-8000 DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger, 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved requests for exemption authority and statement of authorization, subject to conditions (specifically 

including the condition concerning coterminalization, see Remarks below); request for amended permit authority 

deferred.3

 

Action date: January 21, 20114

Effective dates of exemption authority granted: January 21, 2011, through January 21, 2012.

Effective dates of statement of authorization: January 21, 2011, through March 28, 2011.

Basis for approval: United States-China Air Transport Services Agreement

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard 

exemption conditions (attached).

 1 Yangtze’s existing foreign air carrier permit, issued in the above referenced Dockets on April 18, 2008, by Order 2008-4-27, 

authorizes it to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between Shanghai, People’s Republic of China,

and the coterminal points Anchorage, Alaska; Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; and New York, New York. 

Yangtze also holds exemption authority to engage in scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between Shanghai, 

People’s Republic of China, on the one hand, and Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Chicago, Illinois; on the 

other hand (See Notice of Action Taken dated October 20, 2010, in the instant Dockets). 2 Yangtze states that these charter flights will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from January 26, 2011-March 28, 

2011.

3 We will act on Yangtze’s request for an amended permit separately. 4 We acted on the request before the expiration of the 15-day answer period with the consent of all parties served.
Special conditions/Remarks: By Notice of Action Taken dated October 20, 2010, in this docket, we specifically limited 

new coterminalization of U.S. points by Yangtze. For the reasons explained there, we are continuing to impose the same 

condition here.5 6

Finally, in accordance with sections 212.9(d) and (e) of 14 CFR, Yangtze shall not perform any charter(s) unless specific 

authority in the form of a statement of authorization for such charter(s) has been granted by the Department. Applications 

for these statements of authorization shall be filed in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 212.10.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director, Office of International Aviation _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with 

Department policy; (2) the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent 

with the public interest; and (4) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted/deferred/dismissed, we denied all requests in the referenced Docket. We

may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 

CFR §385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of issuance of this Notice. This action was effective 

when taken, and the filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov

 5 We have taken similar action limiting new coterminalization of U.S. points by other carriers of the People’s Republic of China. 

See e.g., Notice of Action Taken dated April 15, 2010, in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0047 (China Southern); Notice of Action Taken 

dated September 27, 2010, in Docket DOT-OST-2007-28655 (Great Wall); and Notices of Action Taken dated January 7, 2011,

and September 21, 2010, in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0205 (Jade Cargo). 6 As we said in our October 20 Notice of Action Taken, our action here does not preclude Yangtze from exercising the Alaska 

coterminalization authority granted by Notice of Action Taken dated August 19, 2010, in Dockets DOT-OST-2010-0200, DOTOST-1999-5035, and DOT-OST-1996-1600.
Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations, 

and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security 

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited 

to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all 

applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service 

(including charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, 

contact its International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security 

Inspector) to advise the IIR of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has 

determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST 

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards 

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent to 

Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air 

services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 

CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except 

that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in 

its homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and 

charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply 

with the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be 

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions 

imposed above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval 

under Title 49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007