BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Amendment to Application of 

Silk Way Airlines Limited Liability Company 

for a foreign air carrier permit pursuant 

to 49 U.S.C.§41301 and an exemption 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §40109(c) 

to engage in cargo charter service 

between the Republic of Azerbaijan 

and the United States 

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Docket OST-2007-28603 

ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIRLINES 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

Edward M. Davidson 

President 

National Air Cargo Group, Inc., 

d/b/a National Airlines 

5955 T. G. Lee Blvd 

Suite 500 

Orlando, FL 32822 

March 10,2015 

Pierre Murphy 

Law Offices of Pierre Murphy 

1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. 

Suite 590 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Telephone: (202) 776-3980 

Facsimile: (202) 776-3975 

Email: pmurphy@lopmurphy.com 

Attorney for National Air Cargo Group, Inc. 

d/b/a National Airlines 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Amendment to Application of 

Silk Way Airlines Limited Liability Company 

for a foreign air carrier permit pursuant 

to 49 U.S.C.§41301 and an exemption 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §40109(c) 

to engage in cargo charter service 

between the Republic of Azerbaijan 

and the United States 

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) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket OST-2007-28603 

ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIRLINES 

National Air Cargo Group, Inc., d/b/a National Airlines (''National") respectfully 

responds in objection to the February 17,2015 application of Silk Way Airlines Limited 

Liability Company ("SW A") to amend its application for all-cargo foreign air carrier permit and 

exemption authority, which application has been pending since 2007. SW A now repeats its 2007 

request for Azerbaijan- U.S. charters as well as for U.S.- third country charters with its fleet of 

IL-76 and An-12 all-cargo aircraft. 1 

National objects to this renewed request for the reasons set forth below. 

1. SWA's renewed application is premised entirely upon principles of comity and 

It should be noted that SW A operates a fleet of aircraft which can only operate to the U.S. from Azerbaijan 

with multiple tech stops. 
ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIRLINES 

reciprocity since there is no bilateral air serve agreement between the 2 countries. 2 However, as 

the Department is aware from the pleadings in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0111 (Silk Way West), 

there is an absence of comity and reciprocity with the foreign government. As an initial matter, 

comity and reciprocity is normally evidenced by a written statement from the relevant foreign 

government that reciprocal rights will be accorded U.S. carriers. No such statement from the 

relevant Azerbaijan authorities has been received, despite assurances from SWA's subsidiary 

airline, the B-7 4 7 -8F /7 4 7 -400F all cargo carrier Silk Way West Airlines ("SWW"), that it was 

forthcoming. 

2. Further, it has already been demonstrated that comity and reciprocity does not 

exist for U.S. carriers in Azerbaijan. When applicant herein's affiliate SWW applied last 

summer for U.S. operating rights under U.S.-Azerbaijan comity and reciprocity, the Department 

specifically limited such authority to 3rd;4th Freedom operations as opposed to the broader 

scheduled authority SWW had requested. See: DOT Order 2014-8-15, at 2 n. 4 (FACP Show 

Cause Order and Order Granting Exemption) (Docket DOT-OST-2014-0111). This action was 

entirely consistent with Department policy in such situations. Then subsequent to that Show 

Cause Order, SWW sought to amend its application by now adding 7th Freedom Baku-Hong 

Kong-Chicago-New York-Luxembourg-Baku scheduled all-cargo rights. Following a 

demonstration by U.S. carriers of protectionism and a highly restrictive and contentious bilateral 

regime amounting to a lack of comity and reciprocity, the Department in Order 2014-11-11 

confmned the award to SWW of Azerbaijan-U.S. rights only, but dismissed "all remaining 

2 In the absence of a bilateral, aviation relations are governed by principles of comity and reciprocity. 

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ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIRLINES 

requests for relief in this Docket." See: DOT Order 2014-11-11 , at 2, ~ 3 (Final Order).3 

3. Separately, SWA has sought to invoke DOT's streamlined regulatory procedures 

for approval of the amendment to its 2007 application. However, the referenced procedures have 

no application herein. In the Department's Notice implementing these streamlined procedures, it 

was made clear that, inter alia, heavily controverted cases or ones that arise in the context of 

restrictive or contentious bilateral regimes are not conducive to such expedited procedures.4 The 

application ofSWA herein, and the related application ofSWW in Docket DOT-OST-2014-

0111 , are clearly controversial. They have received strong opposition from U.S. carriers 

demonstrating a lack of comity and reciprocity and the separate applications of both SWA herein 

and SWW clearly arise in the context of a highly restricted and contentious bilateral 

environment. For these reasons, the expedited and streamlined consideration sought by SW A 

herein have no applicability and should not be granted. 

4. SWA's amended application provides no reason to reconsider the decision to not 

grant SWAthe authority it requests. As the U.S. objectors have demonstrated in the context of 

SWW's applications in Docket DOT-OST-2014-011 1, U.S. air carriers which operate to Baku 

are faced with a protectionist environment rendering operations uneconomical unless a U.S. 

carrier has a contractual relationship with Silk Way. Comity and Reciprocity is clearly lacking. 

Notwithstanding Order 2014-11-11, SWW has initiated multiple rounds of filings on no fewer than 3 more 

occasions. Most recently, see: SWW Motion for Leave to File and Motion to Expedite Request to Amend 

Authority, March 4, 2015. 

4 See: Notice in the Matter of Streamlining Regulations Procedures for licensing U.S. and Foreign Air 

Carriers, August 23, 2005 (Docket DOT -OST -2005-22228), at 3. 

3 
ANSWER OF NATIONAL AIRLINES 

WHEREFORE, National Airlines submits that the application of Silk Way Airlines be 

denied. 

March 10, 2015 

4 

Respectfully s 

/--

/ierre M 

/ Law Of ces of Pierre Murphy 

,,' 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. 

~ Suite 590 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Telephone: (202) 776-3980 

Facsimile: (202) 776-3975 

Email: pmurphy@lopmurphy.com 

Attorney for National Air Cargo Group, Inc. 

d/b/a National Airlines 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that I have on this day served a copy of the foregoing document on this 

lOth day of March 2015 upon each of the following email addresses: 

gpwicks@wicks-group.com 

ekagrimes@wicks-group.com 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

chris. walker@delta.com 

dshort@fedex.com 

sllunsford@fedex.com 

nssparks@fedex.com 

gbleopard@fedex.com 

dheffeman@cozen.com 

enisson@nac.aero 

mwiegele@nac.aero 

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com 

peter. beckett@polaraircargo.com 

dan. weiss@united.com 

pdoell@naca.cc 

robert. wirick@aa.com 

francis.heil@aa.com 

howard.kass@usairways.com 

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com 

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com 

.ijohnson@sgbdc.com 

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com 

jcanny@amerijet.com 

john@mietuslaw.com 

rpommer@atlasair .com 

matwood@cozen.com 

nwallace@wallaceair.com 

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com 

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com 

rzerkel@lac.lynden.com 

gwhite@lac.lynden.com 

jdavis@lac.lynden.com 

TGillies@southemair.com 

anita.mosner@hklaw .com 

jennifer.nowak@hklaw .com 

dsmalls@ups.com 

slachter@cozen.com 

EngleTS@state.gov 

Kristin K. Leake