BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

) 

Request ) 

) 

of Silk Way West Airlines to amend authority ) Docket OST 2014-0111 

(Baku-Hong Kong-Chicago-New York-Luxemburg-Baku) ) 

RESPONSE OF SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 

TO SURREPLY OF KALITTA AIR 

AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

KAMRAN GASIMOV 

Director/CEO 

SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 

Heydar Aliyev International Airport 

Baku, AZ-1 044, Republic of Azerbaijan 

Dated: January 13, 2015 

GLENN P. WICKS 

EKATERINA A. GRIMES 

THE WICKS GROUP, PLLC 

733 lOth Street NW, Suite 3002 

Washington, DC 20001 

(202) 457-7790 

gpwicks@wicks-group.com 

ekagrimes@wicks-group.com 

For: SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 
BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

) 

~~~ ) 

) 

of Silk Way West Airlines to amend authority ) Docket OST 2014-0111 

(Baku-Hong Kong-Chicago-New York-Luxemburg-Baku) ) ____________________________________ ) 

RESPONSE OF SILK WAY WEST AIRLINES 

TO SURREPLY OF KALITTA AIR 

AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE I 

Following the submissions filed in the above referenced docket and in 

connection with the December 22, 2014 Surreply ofKalitta Air LLC ("Kalitta") to the 

Response of Silk Way West Airlines and Motion for Leave to File, Silk Way West Airlines 

("Silk Way West") will briefly respond to several points repeated in Kalitta's most recent 

filing. Because Kalitta failed to add any substance to its earlier allegations, Silk Way West, 

will avoid repetition of those allegations or engaging in further polemics over the pricing 

principles relating to the cargo handling and fuel charges at the Baku Airport. However, 

Silk Way West will briefly respond to clarify the record before the Department in certain 

critical respects. 

1. Kalitta repeats its allegation of a "grossly out of proportion" discrepancy 

between the published rates and the negotiated rates at Baku Airport creating a noncompetitive environment. That allegation is wrong. Kalitta persists in comparing its one 

experience as a one off charter operator with the high frequency arrangements enjoyed by 

many other carriers at Baku. What Kalitta is really saying is that it thinks that the published 

1 Silk Way West moves that the Department accept this filing to enable it to address a number of 

statements in fact and law made in submissions previously accepted in the referenced Docket 

under the same Rule from other submitters. Silk Way West submits that no party would be 

prejudiced by acceptance of this Response. 
rates are too high and the negotiated rates based upon use are too low. Kalitta's position 

disregards reality that the free market appears to strongly disagree with the argument 

suggested by Kalitta. As evidenced by its continuous growth, Baku is, in fact, an attractive 

and cost effective option in the region for cargo operations, including for Kalitta's one-off 

charter where it did receive reduced pricing after its request for it - a fact that Kalitta 

conveniently omitted from its initial filing before the Department and only addressed after 

Silk Way West pointed it out. 

2. Silk Way West would once again stress that though the principle of pricing the 

landing fees and cargo handling fees based on the "signatory" status or the volume 

parameters is essentially the same, the cargo handling process is in itself far more equipment 

and labor intensive, and may thus quite naturally command greater discrepancy in pricing. 

The essential point that Silk Way West is making is that airports have a right to charge based 

upon usage and market demand, whether in Baku or in the United States. 

3. That Kalitta appears to request that the Department engage in a pricing 

evaluation at a foreign airport where Kalitta, by its own statement, has had one ad hoc 

charter flight that it was allegedly dissatisfied with, and over 130 (ONE HUNDRED AND 

THIRTY) fifth freedom fligl1ts where the volume of services supported "the very reasonable 

rates"- all without a bilateral agreement - is bizarre. It therefore bears repeating that Silk 

Way West is asking for the rights that Kalitta already enjoys, and Kalitta has the unmitigated 

chutzpah to claim lack of reciprocity when Silk Way West is not being afforded the same 

opportunity in the United States that US carriers- including Kalitta -- have been 

consistently enjoying in Azerbaijan. 

4. Kalitta also states that it "fully understands that airports offer better rates on a 

variety of charges for carriers that are regular users" but continues to say that "[t]hat 

"volume discount," however, is not what is represented by the royalty charged by the Baku 

Cargo Terminal." The use of the wording is pure semantics and is deliberately misleading. 

Without going further into the definitions and linguistic analyses, Silk Way West would 
only once again stress that the substantial capacity at the airport has been painstakingly built 

in order to attract major cargo operators. Were it not for the high quality services, 

competitive pricing in the region, and substantial added value (such as warehousing and 

refrigeration facilities), Baku would not have been able to compete as it now does in a robust 

regional airport market. Kalitta's extensive fifth freedom operations at the airport are 

evidence of this fact. 

5. In its December 1, 2014 filing, Silk Way West provided substantial disclosure 

on the pricing policies and actual prices at the Baku Airport as they directly affect the 

operating carriers including Kalitta. Indeed, this was a highly accurate and detailed 

treatment of the airport's substantive and objective commercial data. Kalitta's comments 

thereon are merely an advocate's attempt to negatively characterize the facts and numbers 

cited by Silk Way West. Silk Way West submits that it is not in any way involved in a 

nefarious scheme to discourage ad hoc charters from flying to/from Baku. Rather, it is 

pointing out that the market is a regional one in which the actual airport prices are 

reasonable for that region and are based upon the volume and quality of services requested. 

They are in fact charged to Silk Way West itself, as with any other carrier, based upon the 

volume of services. 

6. Kalitta is attempting to avoid competition in the US-Hong Kong/China market, 

not, as it suggests, to "hopefully, create a more fair and competitive environment at Baku 

than what currently exists." Its complaint that it cannot compete for business in Baku due to 

high handling and fuel charges is not its primary concern. Indeed, Kalitta weakly suggests 

that "there is certainly business to be had in Baku." In fact, Kalitta has no such business nor 

is it even able to cite any meaningful examples of such "business to be had" as for example 

National Air Cargo, Cargolux, or Malaysian Air Cargo might. It is simply a reach. 

Moreover, it is not unreasonable to find that numerous high volume operators (such as 

Cargolux, Malaysian, National Air Cargo, Atlas and, yes, Silk Way West) are at a pricing 

advantage vis a vis Kalitta. 
Kalitta is not, as it suggests, expending this amount of energy in the hope of 

improving its terms for one ad hoc cargo charter flight. That would be irrational. However, 

it is highly rational to attempt to protect its space in the US-China market where it is 

competitive and does have actual business. It is also highly rational to accept disparate 

treatment as a US carrier when it is to its own advantage. Silk Way West once again 

submits that the Department should resist Kalitta's invitation to ignore the substantial 

imbalance in favor of US carriers on bilateral rights and to focus instead on a red herring (in 

the form of a single ad hoc charter flight) aimed at protecting Kalitta's valuable turf in 

China, and not condone any further delay tactic by Kalitta to prevent Silk Way West from 

entering the US market on the eve of an open skies agreement with Azerbaijan. 

******* 

WHEREFORE, Silk Way West respectfully requests that the Department grant 

its request to amend the authority granted to it earlier so as to allow it to implement 

scheduled air transportation of property and mail on the route Baku-Hong Kong-ChicagoNew York-Luxemburg -Baku (with no US domestic cargo transportation between the points 

of Chicago and New York), or such other or further relief as the Department determines to 

be appropriate and consistent with the public interest. Silk Way West also respectfully 

motions the Department for leave to file and expedited consideration of its pending Request. 

Respectfully submitted, 

dJP'~ f!? It)£_ 

GLENN P. WICKS 

Counsel for Silk Way West Airlines 

EKATERINA A. GRIMES 

Consultant for Silk Way West Airlines 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

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

each of the following electronic mail addresses: 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

sametta.c. bamett@delta.com 

chris. walker@delta.com 

dshort@fedex.com 

sllunsford@fedex.com 

nsspa rks@fedex.com 

gbleopard@fedex.com 

msinick@ssd.com 

enisson@nac.aero 

mwiegele@nac.aero 

kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com 

peter. beckett@polaraircargo.com 

dan. weiss@coair.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 

jjohnson@sgbdc.com 

jrichardson@j ohnrichardson.com 

mriordan@johnrichardson.com 

jcanny@amerijet.com 

john@mietuslaw .com 

rpommer@atlasair.com 

matwood@cozen.com 

nwallace@wallaceair .com 

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw .com 

dhainbach@ggh -airlaw .com 

judy@lac.lvnden.com 

rzerkel@lac.lvnden.com 

gwhite@lac.lvnden.com 

jdavis@lac.lynden.com 

Ekaterina A. Grimes 

TGillies@southemair.com 

info@airlineinfo.com 

anita.mosner@hklaw .com 

jennifer.nowak@hklaw .com 

dsmalls@ups.com 

slachter@cozen.com 

pmumhy@lopmurphy.com 

kleake@ggh-airlaw .com 

EngleTS@state.gov 

Dated: January 13, 2015