BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) VOLGA

- DNEPR AIRLINE S LLC ) ) Docket OST

- 201 4

- for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) 49 U.S.C . § 40109(g) ) ) ) Huntsville, AL

– Vandenberg AFB , CA )

_________________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF VOLGA
- DNEPR AIRLINE S LLC FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION Communication with respect to this docu ment 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: September 2 , 201 4

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 DE PARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

_________________________________________ ) Application of ) ) VOLGA

- DNEPR AIRLINES LLC ) ) Docket OST

- 201 4

- for an emergency exemption pursuant to ) 49 U.S.C. § 40109(g) ) ) ) Huntsville, AL

– Vandenberg AFB , CA )

_________________________________________ )

APPLICATION OF VOLGA
- DNEPR AIRLINE S LLC FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION

Volga

- Dnepr Airline s 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 two ( 2 ) one - way all

- cargo charter flight s , utilizing Volga

D nepr’s AN

- 124

- 100 aircraft to transport outsized cargo from Huntsville, Alabama to Vandenberg AFB , California on or around September 9

– 24 , 201 4 , on behalf of United Launch Alliance. The outsize cargo t o be transported by Volga

- Dnepr consists of the Atlas V Booster tank, measuring (L

- 1431" x W

- 151 " x H

- 168" ), weighing approx. 65 , 0 0 0 pounds with support equipment , and the Atlas Centaur III tank, measuring (L

- 558" x W

- 142" x H

- 142"), weighing approx. 40,0 0 0 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 all

cargo 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 s on behalf of United Launch Alliance as part of an effort to provide urgently needed lift to leave Huntsville not later than the set dates. United Launch Alliance is shipping the Atlas V Booster tank and the Atlas Centaur III t ank to complete aggressive launch schedules, while only the use of Volga

- Dnepr's outsized aircraft can make it possible to perform the services in question within the set schedule. 3. Due to the extreme size, the delicate nature of the cargo and its extrem ely high value, United Launch Alliance cannot use surface transportation to ship the payload. A technical evaluation conducted by Lockheed Martin determined that over

- the

- road transportation would place the cargo in conditions that are incompatible with ma intaining system integrity compliance. 4. Given the tight schedules associated with the mission integration and launch activities, 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 circumst ances. 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. carri ers 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. Thisapplication 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. Timely shipment of the cargo is imperative to avoid substantial de lay in Lockheed Martin’s mission integration and launch
schedules. 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 circumsta nces 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 fo r the AN

- 124

- 100 aircraft to transport the cargo in question. 8. As previously stated, no U.S. carrier operates aircraft that are able to transport this cargo. Indeed, there is no viable transportation option by any commercially available means other than Volga

- Dnepr's aircraft. 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 cond uct of numerous cargo charter operations on behalf of United Launch Alliance 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 e xemption 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 Notice s 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 ap plication. 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 two ( 2 ) one - way cargo charter flight s , utilizing Volga

- D nepr’s AN

- 124

- 100 aircraft , to transport cargo from Huntsville, Alabama to Vandenberg
AFB , California on or around September 9

– 2 4 , 201 4 , as described herein, and grant such further relief as the Department deems to be cons istent with the public interest.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________________________ Artem Tarasenko Designated agent for Volga

- Dnepr Airlines (832) 585

- 8611

Dated: September 2 , 201 4CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I have on this day served a copy of the foregoing doc ument upon all persons named on the attached service list via electronic mail.

Artem Tarasenko

Dated : September 2 , 2014Service List

Robert P. Silverberg Jeff Johnson Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff, LLP Suite 120 1101 30 th 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

Howard Kass Bob Wirick For: AMERICAN AIRLINES U.S. AIRWAYS howard.kass@aa.com robert.wirick@a a.com John L. Richardson John L. Richardson, P.L.L.C. 555 13 th 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
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.comAlexander Van der Bellen

1275 K St., NW, Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005 Chris Walker 202 842 3949 For: DELTA AIRLINES sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com chris.walker@delta.com S andra Lunsford 3620 Hacks Cross Rd Bldg. B, 3 rd Floor Memphis, TN 38135 For: FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP. Telephone: 901

- 434

- 8589 Fax: 901

- 434

- 9289 Sandra Lunsford sllunsford@fedex.com Stephen Lachter ste phen.lachter@lachterlaw.com F or: FRONTIER AIRLINES “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 matwoo d@cozen.com Ned Wallace nwallace@wallaceair.com Lynn Stauffer lstauffer@wallaceair.com Rick Zerkel, President rzerkel@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 Elain e Nisson enisson@nac.aero Margot Wiegele mwiegele@nac.aeroKevin P. Montgomery

1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 875 Washington, DC 20006 For: POLAR AIR Telephone: 202

- 828

- 10 02 Fax: 202

- 828

- 1003 Peter Beckett Telephone 310

- 743

- 0142 Kevin.montgomery@polaraircargo.com peter.beckett@polaraircargo.com Tom Gilli es Paul Chase For: SOUTHERN AIR Telephone: 203

- 847

- 6000 TGillies@southernair.com PChase@southernair.com Aaron A. Goerlich Garofalo, Goerlich & Hainbach, PC 1200 N ew Hampshire Ave., Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 agoerlich@ggh

- airlaw.com
Dan Weiss 1600 Smith Street, Ste HQSGV Houston, TX 77002 For: UNITED AIRLINES Telephone: 713

- 324

- 6697 or 713

- 324

- 2140 o r (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: +1.202.4 19.2604 F: +1.202.955.5564 anita.mosner@hklaw.com jennifer.nowak@hklaw.com dsmalls@ups.com
Frank Avent Airline Information Research 343 Round Hill Road Sapphire, North Carolina 28774 Telephone: 703

- 489

- 9801 info@airlineinfo.com Stephen A. Cristina Acting Dep. Asst. Secy, Trnsp. Affairs Department of State 2201 C Street, NW, Room 5830 Washington, DC 20520 Fax: 202

- 647

- 4324 CristinaSA@state.gov Roger Rapier Systems Operations Security Center (AJR

- 213) FAA AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM OPERATIONS SECURITY 800 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 205 91 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 Wilso n Avenue Arlington, VA 22209

- 3901 Telephone: 703

- 358

- 8065 Fax: 703

- 358

- 8070 Pdoell@naca.cc Dawn Pefley