UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on September 21, 2010

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKETS DOT-OST-2007-26980 and DOT-OST-2010-0205 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken by the Department official indicated (no 

additional confirming order will be issued in this matter).

Applicant: JADE CARGO INTERNATIONAL COMPANY LIMITED (Jade Cargo)

Date Filed: August 11, 2010

Relief requested: Exemption under 49 USC §40109, and a foreign air carrier permit under 49 U.S.C. §41301, to 

permit the applicant to engage in (1) scheduled foreign air transportation of property and mail between any point or 

points in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), via any intermediate points, to any point or points in the United States 

open to scheduled international operations, and beyond to any points outside the United States; (2) charter foreign air 

transportation of property and mail from any point or points in the PRC, on the one hand, and any point or points in the 

United States, on the other hand; and (3) other charters pursuant to 14 CFR Part 212 of the Department’s regulations.1

Jade Cargo states that it plans to initially operate scheduled all-cargo service over a Shanghai-Yantai-AnchorageChicago-Amsterdam-Shanghai routing beginning on or shortly after September 20, 2010, utilizing aircraft wet-leased 

from World Airways.

Applicant representative: David Heffernan, 202-663-6360 DOT analyst: Brett D. Kruger, 202-366-8025

Responsive pleadings: None.

DISPOSITION

Action: Approved request for exemption authority, subject to conditions (specifically including the condition 

concerning coterminalization, see Remarks below); request for permit authority deferred.

2

 

Action date: September 21, 2010

Effective dates of authority granted: September 21, 2010, through September 21, 2011.

Basis for approval: United States-China Air Transport Services Agreement

Special conditions/Remarks: By Notice of Action Taken (NOAT) dated April 15, 2010, in Docket DOT-OST-2010-0047, 

we specifically limited new coterminalization of U.S. points by China Southern Airlines Company Limited (China 

Southern) until such time as China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) confirms the ability of Federal 

Express Corporation (FedEx) to implement new coterminalized segments on its U.S.-China all-cargo services. We are 

imposing the same condition on Jade Cargo here. While we will now grant Jade Cargo the bilaterally-agreed authority it 

seeks to serve U.S. points, we are not prepared at this time to permit Jade Cargo to serve any of these newly authorized 

points on a coterminal basis.3

 1 Jade Cargo has an application for a foreign air carrier permit pending, filed January 17, 2007 in Docket DOT-OST-2007-26980, 

for U.S.-China all-cargo charter authority. With respect to the permit request in the applicant’s August 11, 2010 application, Jade 

Cargo seeks to amend its January 17, 2007 application to include scheduled service.

2 We will act on Jade Cargo’s permit request separately.

3 Our action here does not preclude Jade Cargo from exercising the Alaska coterminalization authority granted by Notice of Action 

Taken dated August 19, 2010, in Dockets DOT-OST-2010-0200, DOT-OST-1999-5035, and DOT-OST-1996-1600. 
Based on the record in this case, we found the applicant is operationally and financially qualified to conduct its proposed 

services.4

 With respect to the ownership and control of the applicant, the record indicates that fifty-one percent of the 

shares in Jade Cargo are owned by Shenzhen Airlines Company Limited, a subsidiary of Air China International 

Company, which is a state-owned airline organized and established under the laws of the People’s Republic of China. 

Twenty-five percent of the shares of Jade Cargo are owned by Lufthansa Cargo AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, an air carrier organized and established under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. The 

remaining twenty-four percent of the shares of Jade Cargo are held by DEG-Deutsche Investitions-und 

Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG Bank), a subsidiary of KfW Groups, a German state-owned bank. The Chairman 

and two other Directors of Jade Cargo are citizens of China; the remaining three Directors are citizens of Germany. 

Given the extent of non-homeland ownership of Jade Cargo, and the composition of its Board of Directors, we are unable 

to find that the applicant is substantially owned and effectively controlled by citizens of its homeland. However, we find 

that it is consistent with the public interest to use our discretion and to waive our ownership and control standard in this 

instance, as we find that there is nothing in the ownership and control of Jade Cargo that would be inimical to U.S. aviation

policy or interests.

In addition, we note that the carrier is properly licensed by the Government of China to perform the proposed services. On 

September 15, 2010, the FAA advised us that it knew of no reason why we should act unfavorably on Jade Cargo’s 

application. 

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of our standard 

exemption conditions (attached). We also require Jade Cargo, in accordance with 14 CFR §212.9(d) of our regulations, to 

obtain prior Department approval in the form of statements of authorization, before operating any charter trips to or from 

the United States.

Action taken by: Paul L. Gretch, Director, Office of International Aviation _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR Part 385, we found that (1) our action was consistent with 

Department policy; (2) the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed operations; (3) grant of the authority was consistent 

with the public interest; and (4) grant of the authority would not constitute a major regulatory action under the Energy Policy and 

Conservation Act of 1975. To the extent not granted/deferred/dismissed, we denied all requests in the referenced Docket. We

may amend, modify, or revoke the authority granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 

CFR §385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of issuance of this Notice. This action was effective 

when taken, and the filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov

 4 Jade Cargo has requested confidential treatment of its financial submissions under 14 CFR §302.12. Good cause having been 

shown, we will grant Jade Cargo’s request.
Foreign Carrier Exemption Conditions

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier applicant(s) shall:

(1) Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective authorization from its homeland for such operations, 

and it has filed a copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2) Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security 

Administration, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, including, but not limited 

to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and 36 and 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as applicable. To assure compliance with all 

applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing any new service 

(including charter flights) from a foreign airport that would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States, 

contact its International Industry Representative (IIR) (formerly referred to as International Principal Security 

Inspector) to advise the IIR of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation Security Administration has 

determined that security is adequate to allow such airport(s) to be served;

(3) Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the 

commencement of any operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the form of a completed OST 

Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards 

Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be filed with that office);

(4) Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with operational safety requirements at least equivalent to

Annex 6 of the Chicago Convention;

(5) Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of its Government for international air 

services;

(6) Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 

CFR Part 203, concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7) Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 

1605(a), but only with respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any court or other tribunal in the 

United States that are: (a) based on its operations in international air transportation that, according to the contract of 

carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for 

which the contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b) based on a claim under any international 

agreement or treaty cognizable in any court or other tribunal of the United States. In this condition, the term 

"international air transportation" means "international transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except 

that all States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the purpose of this definition;

(8) Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or terminate all flights to/from the United States in 

its homeland;

(9) Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and 

charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided in the applicable aviation agreement, comply 

with the Department's rules governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may be 

prescribed by the Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S. agencies and courts, and with all 

applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder is not in compliance with the conditions 

imposed above. Moreover, this authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit Department approval 

under Title 49 of the U.S. Code.

12/2007