Application of**~ ~**  r**~** --", J'**:~:~-S~.I\;10>-i** BEFORE THE
.. I
. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Airone Ventures Limited Docket DOT-OST-201O- 

## D**(3~** ForAnExemption Under49 U.S.C. §40109(c) (U.S.- Barbados)

MOTION OF AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT PURSUANT TO RULE 12

Communications with respect to this document shouldbe sentto: Ian G. Bums Chairman AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED The Courtyard Hastings Barbados, 

### W.I

May 17,2010

1125932vl Charles A. Hunnicutt PatriciaN. Snyder G. Brent Connor Troutman Sanders 

### LLP 401 9th Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20004 Email: Charles.Hunnicuttral,troutmansanders.com Attorneys for AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED

### BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C. Application of Airone Ventures Limited 

### DocketDOT-OST-2010- For An Exemption Under49 U.S.C. §40109(c) (U.S.- Barbados)

MOTION OF AIRONE VENTURES LIMITED FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT PURSUANT TO RULE 12 

### Pursuant to Rule 12 ofthe Rules ofPractice ofthe Department ofTransportation, 1 

### Airone Ventures Limited moves to withhold from public disclosure certain infonnation contained in Exhibit A to its Application For An 

### Exemption Under 49 U.S.c. § 

### 40109(c) (U.S.-Barbados) submitted herewith under seal in the above-captioned proceeding. Airone is also submitting a publicly available copy ofits application, redacted to delete the confidential proprietary infonnationcontained in Exhibit A. 

### 1. Exhibit A to the Application contains the names and nationalities ofindividual investors

- infonnation protected from public disclosure under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Infonnation Act (FOIA).2 Airone does not seek protection for the amalgamated nationality percentages
- only the identity ofthe individual investors, and in the case ofthe European Union the specific member states ofwhich each investor is a citizen. The amalgamated infonnation is more than sufficient for interested persons to

2

1125932vl 

### 14 C.F.R. § 

### 302.12. 5U.S.C. § 

### 552(b)(4).

### Motion ofAirone Ventures Limited Docket DOT-OST-2010- Page 2 of4 analyze the ownership of Airone and the consequences for U.S. international aviation policy.Exemption 4 protects from public disclosure information that is "(1) 

### commercial
or financial, (2) obtained from a person outside the government, and (3) privileged or confidential.,,3 The information at issue here satisfies this standard. First, the names and nationalities ofthe investors ofAirone's parent company, Airone Holdings Limited, are commercial in nature. Second, this data was obtained from private citizens. Third, it is confidential and proprietary. On this last test, information is confidential ifdisclosure "is likely
... to cause substantial harm to the competitive position ofthe person from whom the information was obtained.,,4 The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has emphasized that the "'important point for competitive harm in the FOIA context ... is that it be limited to harm flowing from the affirmative use ofproprietary informationby competitors.",5 

### 2. In this case, Airone meets the competitive harm prong of the test for confidentiality ofExemption 4. The names and nationalities ofthe individual investors of Airone's parent company is information that Airone, like any private company, does not

3 Gulf & Western Indus., Inc. 

### v. UnitedStates, 

### 615 F.2d 527, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (citations omitted). 4 NationalParks & ConservationAss 'n 

### v. Morton, 

### 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974). 5 Pub. Citizen Health Research Group 

### v. FDA, 

### 704 F.2d 1280, 1291 nJO (D.C. Cir. 1983) (quoting Mark Q. Connelly, Secrets andSmokescreens:A LegalandEconomic Analysisof GovernmentDisclosures of BusinessData, 

### 1981 Wis. L. 

### Rev. 207,235-36).Motion ofAirone Ventures Limited Docket DOT-OST-2010- Page 3 of4

want to share with competitors. Competitors could use this identifying information to solicit investments from Airone's private investors, potentially reducing the pool of venture capital funds available to Airone's parent company, and, in tum, in Airone. This is a commercial risk that Airone does not have to take. 3. This information is not necessary to evaluate the citizenship and ownership of Airone, a key part ofAirone's contemporaneously filed application. In that application, Airone seeks an exemption under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(c) and Subpart C of the Department's procedural regulations from the requirements of49 U.S.C. §§ 41301 and 41302 to allow it to provide scheduled foreign air transportation between the United States and Barbados. As stated in that application, nothing in Airone's ownership or control is inimical to U.S. aviation policy or interests. Airone is indirectly owned and controlled by European nationals, with significant participation by Barbadians and/or Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) nationals. Interested persons do not need to know the identities and citizenship ofAirone's investors to evaluate the international aviation policy implications. But, competitors for venture capital could use the information to delay or disrupt Airone's plans of proving air service between the United States and Barbados or to compete for investment dollars with investors that Airone has worked to attract. 4. Thus, the information for which Airone requests confidential treatment is confidential, proprietary and competitively sensitive. Its public release could causeMotion ofAirone Ventures Limited DocketDOT-OST-201OPage 4 of4
Airone substantial competitive and financial injury. Accordingly, the information should be withheld from public disclosure. WHEREFORE, Airone Ventures Limited respectfully asks the Department to grant its Motion for Confidential Treatment.

May 17,2010 Respectfully submitted,

Charles A. Hunnicutt PatriciaN. Snyder G. Brent Connor Troutman Sanders LLP Counsel for Airone Ventures LimitedCertificate ofService
I hereby certify that I have this 17th day ofMay 2010 caused this Motion ofAirone Ventures Limited to be served upon each person listed below in the manner indicated, as required by 14 C.F.R. 

### § 302.304.

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