BE F ORE T HE DEPARTME NT OF T RA N SPOR T A TI ON

WAS HI NGTON, D.C .

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Hickam AFB, HI - McChord AFBffacoma , W A )



### -- -- - - ----- ------ - -- - --------) Application of VOLGA-DNEPR J . S. CARGO AIRLINE Docket OST -2010- for an emergency exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.c . § 40109(g)

AP P L I CATION O F VOLGA-DNEPR J .S. CA R GO A IRLIN E FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION Communication with respect to this document should be addressed to: Alexey L lsaiki n Chairman Volga-Dnepr J.S. Car go Airli n e 14 Karbysheva Street 1215 U lyanovsk, Russia Artem Tarasenko Operations Manager Volga Dnepr-Unique Air Cargo , I nc . 9400 Grogan's Mill Road, Town Center Plaza, Suite 220 , The Woodlands, T X U SA (832) 585 - 861 1

DAT E D: December 1 , 201 1 N OTICE : THIS APPLICATION IS FILED PURSUANT TO THE EMERGENC Y EXEMP T ION PROCEDURES OF 14 c . F . R . § 302 . 410, W H ICH AUTHORIZE T HE DEPAR T MENT TO AC T ON EMERGENCY EXEMPTIONS IMMED I ATELY . ANY PERSON INTERESTED IN F I LING AN ANSWER IS REQUESTED T O DO SO IN T H E ABOVE DOCKET IMMEDIATELY . COPI E S OF THE SUBMISSION S H O U LD B E SERVED ON T HE PERSONS LIST E D ABOVE AND ON THE ATTAC H ED SERV I CE L IST .B EFO RE THE DEPART M ENT O F TRA N SPOR T AT I ON

WAS HI N GT O N , D. C .

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Hickam AFB, HI - McChord AFB/Ta c oma , W A )



### - - - --- -- --- - -- --- - --- - - -- -- -- - ) Appl i cation of VOLGA - DN E PR J.S. CARGO AIRL I N E Docket OS T - 20 1 0 - for an emergency exemption pursuant to 49 US.c . § 40109(g)

A PPLl C A n ON O F VO L GA- D N E P R J.8. C AR GO A I RL INE FOR AN EMERGENC Y E XE MPTION Volga - Dnepr J.S. Cargo Airline ("Volga-Dnepr Airl in es " or "Vo l ga - Dnepr' ' ) respectfu l l y requests an emergency e xe mption from th e pr o v i sions o f 49 U S . C . §§ 40109(g) and 4 1 703 { c ), and o therwise ap plicable prov i sions o f the Department of Transportati on ("DO T " ) regulati ons , so as to permi t Volg a -Dnepr to operate one ( 1 ) one -way all-car go chart er fligh t , u ti li z ing VolgaDnepr ' s A N - 1 24 - 100 ai rc raft, to transport ou t size cargo f r om H ickam AFB , HI to McChord AFB/Tacoma, WA on o r abou t D ecember 7, 2011 - December 9, 201 1 , on behal f o f U S . T RANSCOM. The carg o to be tr anspo rted b y V o l g a- Dn e pr f rom H ickam A F B , H I to McC hord A F B lT acom a , W A wil l cons i st of s i x Sikorsky UH- 60 Bl a ck Haw k he l icopters and a ssociated equ ipmen t Each h e l icopte r 's dimens i ons are L -4 9 6 " x W-121 " x H- 1 48" we i ghin g app r ox im ate l y 1 9,000 po u nds. I n sup p o rt of its ap p lication, Volg a -D n e pr s t at es as f o l lows:1 . V o lga-Dnep r i s a fo rei g n air c arri er ho ldi ng app r o priat e DOT auth o rity t o c o nduct allcar g o ch arter f

orei g n ai r transp ort ati o n be twee n ' a p oin t or p oi nt s in Russ i a an d a p oint or point s in the U nited States, and al l -cargo chart er tra ~ sport ation be tw e en th e U nited Sates and thi rd I coun tries p u r s uan t to 1 4 C . F . R . P art 212 . 2 . Vol ga -Dnepr wi ll ope r at e fl ig ht on behalf of U . S . T RAN S C O M as p art of an eff o rt t o prov id e n eed e d l i f

t to co mp lete the re quire d equ ip m e nt rotati on as se t f o rth above. Th e c argo wa s o ri g inal l y planned t o b e tr an s po rte d b y U .S . T RANSCO M o n organ i c lift , h owever, du e to the n e ed to divert availab l e organic lift to o the r areas , U . S. T RANSCOM i s requ i rin g thi s c ar go t o be tr an sp o rted b y c o mm ercial ai rcraf t . U . S . C arriers we re s ol i c i ted f or m o v e m ent of thi s c argo , how e v er di d not have th e re quire d av ai lab ility , o r require d ai rcr af t to meet th e reque s t e d m o vem e n t time l ine ou tl ined b y 

## u . s . T RAN S CO M fo r trans p o rt of the c arg o . T he mi l i t ary s tands t o face s ubstan ti al delay s i n highly ti me sensiti v e ope r atio ns if th e missio n i s n o t comp l ete d within the set sche du l e , wh ile o n ly the use o f V o lga - Dnep r 's ai rcraf t can make it possible to p erfo rm th e se rv i ce in ques tion on time . 3 . Due to th e nature o f th e c argo , a s well as the urg e n cy o f the s hipments , the mi litary c an n ot u se alt ernati ve s u rf ac e trans po rtati on t o s h ip th e syst em s an d equ i p m e n t . 4 . Give n th e ti gh t schedule as sociated with the missio ns , Volga-Dnepr mus t perform the operations not l ate r th an s t ated ab o ve . Vo l ga - Dnepr is pol l ing all U . S. c e rti f icat ed air carrie r s o n th e attac h ed serv i ce l is t and wi l l i n f orm the Departmen t o f Tr ansportati o n o n the resu l ts of the p oll . 5 . U nde r 49 U . S . c . § 4 0 109 (g) , the Departme nt m ay au thori ze a fo rei g n air c arrier to tr an sp o rt comme rcial traff i c betwee n 

## u . s . p oints un de r limi t e d ci rcu ms tan ces . S p e c i f ical l y , th e Dep artment mus t f

ind that the auth o ri ty is required i n the publ i c i nterest ; th at because of an em erg en cy creat e d by u n usual c irc u ms t ance s n ot aris in g i n th e n ormal c o urs e of bu s ine ss the tr aff ic can no t b e a cc o mm odate d b y U . S . carri e rs ho l din g c e rti f i c ate s u n de r 49 U .S . c . § 41 1 02 ; that al l poss i b le efforts hav e b een mad e t o acco mm od ate the traf fi c on 

## u . s . c ertific at e d aircarriers; and th at th e exempti o n is necessary to avo i d unreason ab le h ardship for th e traffic . This app l ic ati on is consiste n t w ith the pu blic i n t erest an d meets al l of the re levan t criteria under 49 U . S. C . § 40109 (g ) f

o r th e g r ant o f an e xemption . 6 . Gr an t of this ap pl icatio n i s i n the pu b lic in t erest . As is evidence d b y the attached correspondenc e , timely shipmen t of the payloa d s is imperative to avo i d s u b s tanti al del ay in U . S . TRANSCOM ' s operati ons . 7. In th i s instance, an e me r ge n cy created by u n u sual c i rcumstan ce s not ari sing in the n orm al cours e o f b us in e ss e x i st s as a resul t of th e diversi o n o f U . S . TRAN S COM' s o rgan i c fleet to o th er em e r gency ta sk s relat ed to on g oin g o p erati o n s worl d w ide , the e x i ge n t ci rcu mstances surroun d i ng the lack of av ail ability of 

## u . s. civil ai rcraft and the u rg e ncy of the shipment . A s a re s u lt , the b e st way to re so l ve th i s e merg enc y is for the AN - 124-1 00 to transport th e p ay l oad in qu e stion . 8 . A s pre vi o u sly stated no U.s. carrier is avai l ab le or h a s the ai rc raft to transpo rt this c ar go wi thi n the dates re queste d by 

## u . s . TRANSC O M. In d eed , th e re i s no viable tr ans p ortation optio n by any c ommercial ly avai lab le m e an s other than Vo l ga - Dn epr ' s ai rcraft to m e et desi re d timeline . 9. Gr ant of th i s exe mption app l i c ati on is nece s sary to avoi d u nreas o n ab l e hards hip f o r the tr affi c at i ssue. In fact, the sh i pp er s t ands t o suf f er cons i d e rab l e d isru p tio n t o i ts operati ons i n the i n terest of national s e c uri ty and safety if th e s hi pments are de l aye d . 10 . Volga - D nepr ' s fitn ess and abil i ty to carry o ut th e propose d transportation has bee n amply d e mo nstr ate d thr o u g h its co ndu c t o f n um erous cargo charte r o p erati o ns world-wi d e , incl ud ing traffic in and ou t of th e U n i ted S tates , over th e past several years - on b e h alf o f the U.S. T RA N SCO M . 1 1. Grant of thi s app licati o n i s c o nsisten t with D ep artment prec ed ent . Fore ign air earners h ave been g r ante d emerge n cy exemp tion authority t o carry car go be tw ee n U . S . p oints when an emergency existed as a resul t o f u n u s ual circ u mstances no t arising in the no rmal course of

- --- ----bu s in es s . See, e . g. , O r ders 96 - 6 - 31, 9 6 -4 - 29 , 9 5-11-35 , 95 - 2 - 35 , 9 4 - 1 1 -6 and 9 4 -4 - 1 4, as we l l as Noti c es o f Action Take n in doc kets OS T - 04 -1 7906 , OST-07 - 26806 , OS T -07 - 2 7 1 25 , OS T -07 - 28857 , OS T - 08 - 0003 , an d OST-09 - 004 1 . 1 2 . In l ig h t of the exigen t circu m s t ances , Volga-Dn e p r re qu e s t s exp e d iti o us p roces s in g and the i mmed i ate grant o f th i s emergenc y exe mp ti on appl i c ati on . T h e Departm e n t ' s Pro cedu r al Re gu lati o n s pro vid e th at the D e p artme nt c an a c t o n an e m e r ge ncy exempti o n ap pli c ati on i mm e d iat e l y . De s ign ate d agent fo r Volga-Dnep r will p r omp tl y advi s e the Departmen t o f the respon s es of the i n t e rest ed U . S . c arrier s to the pol l conducted re gar ding th i s application .

## **** * **
W H EREF ORE , Volga-D n epr resp e ctful l y requests that th e D epartment is sue an emergency e x empti o n pe rmitti ng i t to o per ate on e ( 1) o n e - way al l - c ar go ch art e r f l i ght , uti l izing V o l ga -Dn ep r ' s AN -1 24- 10 0 ai rc raft, to tr an s p o rt c ar go from Hi ck am AFB , H I to Mc C ho r d AF B f Ta c o ma , W A on or around Dec e mbe r 7 , 2 0 1 1 - D e c emb e r 9 , 2 0 1 1 as desc rib e d he rei n, an d gr an t suc h further re l ie f a s th e De partmen t de e m s to be cons i st ent w i th the pub l ic in teres t . R espectf u l l y su b mi tt e d ,

Arte m T ar asenko De s ignated agent fo r Volga-Dnepr A i rl i nes ( 832 ) 585-86 1 1

D a t ed : D ecem b e r 1, 2 011

- -- -- ~- --CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

### I hereby certi f

y that 

### I have 

### on this day served 

### a copy of the foregoing document upon 

### all persons n amed on the attached service list via electronic mail .

Artem T arasenko Dated: December 1, 2011Mars hall S. Sini c k 202/626-6600 Squir e , Sand e r s & D e mp sey 1201 Penn sy lvani a Avenu e , N.W . Suite 400 Washington , DC 20004 For : ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. FLORIDA WEST ( FA X : 202/626-67 8 0) Carl B. N e lson , Jr. 202/496-5647 A ssoc iate G e neral Coun se l AMERICAN AIRLINES 1101 17th Str e et , N . W . Sui t e 600 Wash i ngton , DC 20036 (FAX : 202/

4 96-5660

) S c ott Yoh e 2021216-0700 Vi ce -Presid e nt, G o vernm e nt Aff airs 1629 K Str e et, N.W . Suit e 501 Washington , DC 20006 For : DELTA AIRLINES, INC. (FAX : 202/216-0824

) Department of State - EURJRUS Ro o m 422 3 2201 C S treet , N . W. Washington , DC 20250 (FA X : 202/736-4710)

D e puty Assistant S e cretary for Tran s portati o n Af

f airs Department of State Bur e au of Economi c s and Busin e s s Affairs , EBITRA, Room 5830 2201 C Str ee t, N.W. Washington , DC 20250 ( FAX: 202/64 7

-43 24 ) Rog e r R api er 202/267-9555 (ATO- R) O f

fice of International Aviation Federal Aviation Administration 800 I ndep e nd e n ce Avenu e , S.W. Washington , DC 20591 ( F AX : 202/267

- 9208 ) 

### Service List An ge li a Bird 9011 43 4 -8 589 FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION 3 620 H ac ks Cr o s s Rd . Memphis , TN 38125 (FAX: 9011434-9289)

Margot Wie ge l e 907/249-5142 NORTHERN AIR CARGO , Inc. 3 900 W es t In ternati o nal Airport Ro a d A n c h orag e , A K 99502 ( FAX : 907/2 4 9-5190 )
T o m G i lli e s 203/8 47 -6000 Pr e sident 117 Glover Avenue Norwalk , CT 06850 For: SOUTHERN AIR ( FAX : 203

/847-6000

)

Rus se ll E. Pommer 202/822-9121 A s so c i at e G e n er al Couns e l and Dir ec t o r o f R e gul atory Af

fai rs ATLAS AIR, INC. 1747 Pennsyl v ania Ave ., N . W. , Suit e 875 Wa s hington , DC 20006 (F AX: 202/822-9152

) Jeffr e y Manle y 202/663-6655 1455 P e nnsylvani a A ve, N.W . Washin g ton , DC 2000 4 F o r: UNITED AIRLINES (F AX: 2021772 - 6670)

Pie rre Murphy , E s q . 2021776- 3 980 1200 New Hampshir e Avenue, N.W. Suit e 800 Washin g ton , D.C . 200 3 6 For : ARROW AIR, INC. ( FAX: 202/776 -3 975

)David Vaughan 202/955-9864 Kelley Drye & Warr e n 1200 19th Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington , D.C. 20036 For: U.P.S. (FAX: 202/955-9792) John L. Richard s on 202/828-0158 202/371 - 2258 Crispin & Brenner 

### I 1156 15 t h Street , NW , Suite 1105 Washington , DC 20005 For : AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC_ (FAX: 202/828-0152) Robert Silverberg 202-944-3300 Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff 1101 30th St. , N.W., Suite 120 Washington , D.C. 20007 For: ABX Air, Inc (FAX: 202/944-3304) Mark Atwood 202/463-2513 Sher & Blackwell 1850 M Street , N.W . , Su i te 900 Washington, D . C . 20036 For : KALITTA AIR, L.L.C. (FAX: 202/463- 4 950) Hershel Kamen 7131324-6697 Senior Manag i ng Director ofInternational R e gulatory A ffairs CONTINENTAL AffiLINES 2929 Allen Parkway Suite 1925 Houston, TX 77019 (FAX: 713/324-2749) Steph e n H. Lacht e r 202/962-4321 1150 Connecticut Ave , N.W. Suit e 900 Washington , D.C. 20036 For: ASTAR AIR CARGO (FAX: 202/83 5-3219)

Ronald Pri ddy 703/358-8060 National Air Carriers ' Association 1000 Wilson Bvd., Suite 1700 Arlington, VA 22209 (FAX: 703/358-8070) Judy M c Kenzie 907/249-4100 6441 South Air Park Place Anchor a ge , AK 99502 LYNDEN AIR CARGO (FAX: 907/245-0642)

Ben Grav e s 503/472'9361 EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL, INC. 1401 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 530 Washington , D.C. 20005-2147 (FAX: 202/638-4593) Mark M c Millin 770/632-8215 Assistant Gen e ral Couns e l HLH Bldg, 101 World Drive Peachtr e e City , GA 30269 For : WORLD AIRLINES (FAX: 770/632 - 8048) David Vaughan 202/955-9864 Kelley Drye & Warren 1200 19 th Street, N.W. Suit e 500 Wa s hington , D.C. 20036 For : U.P.S. ( FAX : 202/955-9792) Kevin P. Montgom e ry 202/828-1002 POLAR AIR CARGO 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 875 Washington , DC 20006 (FAX: 202/828-1003)