BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_________________________________________

) 

Application of ) 

) 

VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC ) 

) Docket OST-2013-

for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) 

49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) ) 

) 

) 

Oscoda, MI – Honolulu, HI ) 

_________________________________________ ) 

APPLICATION OF

VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC

FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION

Communication with respect to this document should be addressed to: 

Alexey I. Isaikin Artem Tarasenko

Chairman Operations Manager

Volga-Dnepr Airlines LLC Volga Dnepr-Unique Air Cargo, Inc.

14 Karbysheva Street 9400 Grogan’s Mill Road,

Ulyanovsk 432072 Town Center Plaza, Suite 220,

Russia The Woodlands, TX 77381, USA

(832) 585-8611

DATED: November 13, 2013

NOTICE: THIS APPLICATION IS FILED PURSUANT TO THE EMERGENCY 

EXEMPTION PROCEDURES OF 14 C.F.R. § 302.410, WHICH AUTHORIZE THE 

DEPARTMENT TO ACT ON EMERGENCY EXEMPTIONS IMMEDIATELY. ANY 

PERSON INTERESTED IN FILING AN ANSWER IS REQUESTED TO DO SO IN THE 

ABOVE DOCKET IMMEDIATELY. COPIES OF THE SUBMISSION SHOULD BE 

SERVED ON THE PERSONS LISTED ABOVE AND ON THE ATTACHED SERVICE LIST. 
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_________________________________________

) 

Application of ) 

) 

VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC ) 

) Docket OST-2013-

for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) 

49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) ) 

) 

) 

Oscoda, MI – Honolulu, HI ) 

_________________________________________ ) 

APPLICATION OF

VOLGA-DNEPR AIRLINES LLC

FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION

Volga-Dnepr Airlines LLC (“Volga-Dnepr Airlines” or "Volga-Dnepr") respectfully 

requests an emergency exemption from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. §§ 40109(g) and 41703(c), 

and otherwise applicable provisions of the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) regulations, 

so as to permit Volga-Dnepr to operate one (1) one-way cargo charter flight, utilizing VolgaDnepr’s AN-124-100 aircraft to transport cargo from Oscoda, Michigan to Honolulu, Hawaii on 

around November 19–21, 2013, on behalf of Construction Helicopters Incorporated (CHI).

The outsized cargo to be transported by Volga-Dnepr consists of one (1) Sikorsky S-61 

helicopter with following dimensions: L-657" x W-147" x H-172", weighing approx. 14,330

pounds. As described, the payload is outsized and cannot be accommodated by domestic 

commercial carrier aircraft.

In support of its application, Volga-Dnepr states as follows:
1. Volga-Dnepr is a foreign air carrier holding appropriate DOT authority to conduct allcargo charter foreign air transportation between a point or points in Russia and a point or points 

in the United States, and all-cargo charter transportation between the United Sates and third 

countries pursuant to 14 C.F.R. Part 212.

2. Volga-Dnepr will operate the flight on behalf of CHI as part of an effort to provide 

urgently needed lift to leave Oscoda not later than the set dates. The helicopter to be transported 

is a replacement helicopter supporting a current Hawaiian Electric Company contract and is 

required for line service used for survey and maintenance to provide uninterrupted power supply 

to key areas in Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Company’s current helicopter S-61 has been called 

into service to support a USTRANSCOM contract in Bagram, Afghanistan, and will be 

immediately loaded in Hawaii once the replacement helicopter has been safely delivered.

3. Due to the size of the cargo and the urgency of the shipment, CHI cannot use 

surface/ocean transportation to ship the cargo.

4. Given the tight schedules associated with the helicopter replacement need in Hawaii, 

Volga-Dnepr must perform the operations not later than within the set dates. Volga-Dnepr is 

polling all U.S. certificated air carriers on the attached service list and will inform the 

Department of the results of that poll.

5. Under 49 U.S.C. § 40109(g), the Department may authorize a foreign air carrier to 

transport commercial traffic between U.S. points under limited circumstances. Specifically, the 

Department must find that the authority is required in the public interest; that because of an 

emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of business the 

traffic cannot be accommodated by U.S. carriers holding certificates under 49 U.S.C. § 41102; 

that all possible efforts have been made to accommodate the traffic on U.S. certificated air 

carriers; and that the exemption is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship for the traffic. This 

application is consistent with the public interest and meets all of the relevant criteria under 49 

U.S.C. § 40109(g) for the grant of an exemption.
6. Grant of this application is in the public interest. As is evidenced by the attached 

correspondence, timely shipment of the CHI’s helicopter is imperative to ensure uninterrupted 

service for Hawaiian Electric Company and “on-station” time requirements in Bagram, 

Afghanistan.

7. In this instance, an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the 

normal course of business exists as a result of the size of the cargo, as well as the exigent 

circumstances surrounding the impossibility to use any other mode of transportation, and the 

lack of availability of U.S. commercial aircraft of the nature of the AN-124-100 operated by 

Volga-Dnepr Airlines. As a result, the best way to resolve this emergency is for the AN-124-100 

aircraft to transport the equipment in question.

8. As previously stated, no U.S. carrier operates aircraft that are able to transport this 

cargo.

9. Grant of this exemption application is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship for the 

traffic at issue.

10. Volga-Dnepr’s fitness and ability to carry out the proposed transportation has been 

amply demonstrated through its conduct of number of cargo charter operations on behalf of CHI 

in and out of the United States and throughout the world.

11. Grant of this application is consistent with Department precedent. Foreign air carriers 

have been granted emergency exemption authority to carry cargo between U.S. points when an 

emergency existed as a result of unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of 

business. See, e.g., Orders 96-6-31, 96-4-29, 95-11-35, 95-2-35, 94-11-6 and 94-4-14, as well as 

Notices of Action Taken in dockets OST-04-17906, OST-07-26806, OST-07-27125, OST-07-

28857, OST-08-0003, and OST-09-0041.

12. In light of the exigent circumstances, Volga-Dnepr requests expeditious processing 

and the immediate grant of this emergency exemption application. The Department’s Procedural 

Regulations provide that the Department can act on an emergency exemption application 
immediately. Designated agent for Volga-Dnepr will promptly advise the Department of the 

responses of the interested U.S. carriers to the telephone poll regarding this application.
WHEREFORE, Volga-Dnepr respectfully requests that the Department issue an 

emergency exemption permitting it to operate one (1) one-way cargo charter flight, utilizing 

Volga-Dnepr’s AN-124-100 aircraft; to transport cargo from Oscoda, Michigan to Honolulu, 

Hawaii on or around November 19–21, 2013, as described herein, and grant such further relief as 

the Department deems to be consistent with the public interest.

Respectfully submitted, 

_______________________________________ 

Artem Tarasenko

Designated agent for Volga-Dnepr Airlines

(832) 585-8611

Dated: November 13, 2013
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

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

persons named on the attached service list via electronic mail.

Artem Tarasenko

Dated: November 13, 2013
Service List

Robert P. Silverberg

Jeff Johnson

Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff, LLP

Suite 120

1101 30th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20007

For ABX AIR

Telephone: 202-944-3300

Fax: 202-944-3306

rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

jjohnson@sgbdc.com

Marshall Sinick

Squire, Sanders & Demsey

1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20004

For ALASKA AIRLINES &

FLORIDA WEST

Telephone: 202-626-6600 or

202-626-6649

Fax: 202-626-6780

msinick@ssd.com

Francis C. Heil, Sr. Atty.

4333 Amon Center Boulevard

Fort Worth, TX

For: AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

francis.heil@aa.com

Robert Wirick

Robert.Wirick@aa.com

John L. Richardson

John L. Richardson, P.L.L.C.

555 13th Street, N.W.

Suite 420 West

Washington, DC 20004

For: AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Telephone: 202-371-2258

Fax: 202-828-0158

jrichardson@johnlrichardson.com

Michelle Riordan

mriordan@johnlrichardson.com

Joan M. Canny

Senior Vice President

and General Counsel

AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC.

2800 S. Andrews Ave.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 33316

Office 954-320-5300, Fax 305-423-3246

Direct 954-320-5367

jcanny@amerijet.com
Stephen H. Lachter

Suite 900

1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20036-4192

Telephone: 202-862-4321

Fax: 202-835-3219

slachter@lachter-clements.com

Russell Pommer

1747 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.

Suite 875

Washington, D. C. 20006

For: ATLAS AIR

Telephone: 202-822-9121

Fax: 202-822-9152

rpommer@atlasair.com

John Mietus

Law Office of John Mietus, LLC

6701 Democracy Blvd., Ste 300

Bethesda, MD 20817-7500

For: CENTURION AIR CARGO & 

SKYLEASE

Telephone: 301-571-9334

Fax: 240-396-5362

john@mietuslaw.com

Alexander Van der Bellen

1275 K St., NW, Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20005

For: DELTA AIRLINES

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

Ben Graves

Daniel Commins

Kelli Bryan (Charter Sales)

Evergreen International Airlines

EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Telephone: 503-472-9361

Tel: 503.472.0011

Fax: 503.434.4210

charters@evergreenairlines.com

Ranjit Seth 

ranjit.seth@evergreenairlines.com

Sandra Lunsford

3620 Hacks Cross Rd

Bldg. B, 3rd Floor

Memphis, TN 38135

For: FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP.

Telephone: 901-434-8589

Fax: 901-434-9289

Sandra Lunsford

sllunsford@fedex.com
Dawn Pefley

“Cozen O’Connor”

1627 I Street, NW, Ste 1100

Washington, DC 20006

For: KALITTA AIR, L.L.C.

Telephone: 202-463-2525

Fax: 202-463-4950

DPefley@cozen.com

Mark Atwood

matwood@cozen.com

Ned Wallace

nwallace@wallaceair.com

Lynn Stauffer

lstauffer@wallaceair.com

Rick Zerkel, President

rzerkel@lac.lynden.com

Judy McKenzie

judy@lac.lynden.com

Garry White

gwhite@lac.lynden.com

Jim Davis

jdavis@lac.lynden.com

For: LYNDEN AIR CARGO

6441 s. Airpark Place

Anchorage, AK 99502

Telephone: 907-249-4100

Fax: 907-245-0642

Elaine Nisson

3900 W. Int’l Airport Rd.

Anchorage, Alaska 99519

For: NORTHERN AIR CARGO

Telephone: 907-243-3331 ext.514

Fax: 907-249-5190

Elaine Nisson

enisson@nac.aero

Margot Wiegele

mwiegele@nac.aero

Kevin P. Montgomery

1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Suite 875

Washington, DC 20006

For: POLAR AIR

Telephone: 202-828-1002

Fax: 202-828-1003

Peter Beckett

Telephone 310-743-0142

Kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com

peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com

Aaron A. Goerlich

Garofalo, Goerlich & Hainbach, PC

1200 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 800

Washington, DC 20036

For: RYAN INTERNATIONAL

Telephone: 202-776-3970

Fax: 202-776-3975

agoerlich@ggh-airlaw.com

Tom Gillies

Paul Chase

For: SOUTHERN AIR

Telephone: 203-847-6000

TGillies@southernair.com

PChase@southernair.com
Dan Weiss

1600 Smith Street, Ste HQSGV

Houston, TX 77002

For: UNITED/CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

Telephone: 713-324-6697 or 

713-324-2140 or

(312) 997-7573 (Dan Weiss)

Fax: 713-324-2749

dan.weiss@coair.com

Anita Mosner 

Partner

Holland & Knight

For: UNITED PARCEL SERVICES

2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 

Suite 100

Washington DC 20006

T: +1.202.419.2604

F: +1.202.955.5564

anita.mosner@hklaw.com

jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com

dsmalls@ups.com

Howard Kass

Ben Slocum

For: U.S. AIRWAYS

Telephone: 202-326-5153

Telephone: 480-693-5782 (Ben)

howard_kass@usairways.com

Benjamin.slocum@usairways.com

Malcolm L. Benge

Corporate Counsel

999 Seventeenth Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006-3309

For: WORLD AIRWAYS, INC.

Telephone: 202-298-8660

Fax: 202-342-0683

mlbenge@zsrlaw.com

Frank Avent

Airline Information Research

343 Round Hill Road

Sapphire, North Carolina 28774

Telephone: 703-489-9801

info@airlineinfo.com

Krishna R. Urs

Dep. Asst. Secy, Trnsp. Affairs

Department of State

2201 C Street, NW, Room 5830

Washington, DC 20520

Fax: 202-647-4324

urskr@state.gov

Judy Kuo

Department of State – EUR/RUS

2201 C. Street, N.W., Room 4417

Washington, DC 20520

Fax: 202-647-8980

Roger Rapier

Systems Operations Security Center 

(AJR-213)

FAA AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM

OPERATIONS SECURITY

800 Independence Ave., SW

Washington, DC 20591

Telephone: 202-267-8115/5775

Fax: 202-267-9208

9-ATOR-HQ-RT-REQ@faa.gov
A. Oakely Brooks, President & CEO

& Paul Doell, Dir. Govt Affairs

National Air Carriers’ Association

(NACA)

Suite 1700

1000 Wilson Avenue

Arlington, VA 22209-3901

Telephone: 703-358-8065

Fax: 703-358-8070

Pdoell@naca.cc
Attention: U.S. Department of Transportation 

Construction 

Helicopters 

I NCORPOR AT ED 

RE: Justification for immediate airlift via Volga-Dnepr Airline's AN-124-100 aircraft 

CHI Aviation confirms the need for immediate movement of a 561 helicopter (C-FQNG), from Oscoda, 

Michigan to Honolulu, Hawaii via Volga-Dnepr Airlines AN-124 aircraft. 

The helicopter to be transported is a replacement helicopter supporting a current Hawaiian Electric 

Company (HECO) contract and is required for line service used for survey and maintenance to provide 

uninterrupted power supply to key areas in Hawaii. HECO's current helicopter 561 {N906CH) has been 

called into service to support a USTRANSCOM contract in Bagram Afghanistan, and will be immediately 

loaded in Hawaii once the replacement helicopter 561 (C-FQNG) has been safely delivered. 

Due to the time constraints associated with delivery to ensure uninterrupted of service in Hawaii and 

"on-station" time requirements in Bagram Afghanistan, airlift is the only option to ensure satisfactory 

delivery to meet all the needs associated with both contracts and the programs/people they support. 

Volga-Dnepr's AN-124-100 aircraft is the aircraft of choice due the dimensions of the 561 helicopters, 

and inability to be safely loaded or transported via any other type of commercial cargo aircraft. 

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance, please contact me should you need further information 

or have any questions. 

Yours sincerely, 

President 

3679 Bowen Rd. • Howell, Ml 48855 • 800-521-5130 • 800-521-4275 fax • www.constructionhelicopters.com 

E XT ERN A L LIFT SPEC I A LI ST SINCE 1 9 80