BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of VOLGA
- DNEPR lS. CARGO AIRLINE for an emergency exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.c. § 40109(g) Hickam AFB, HI
- Alexandria , LA ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )



## --------------------------- ) Do c ket OST-2010-

APPLICATION OF VOLGA-DNEPR J.S . CARGO AIRLINE FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION Communication with respect to this document should be addressed to: Alexey I. Isaikin Chairman Volga-Dnepr 1.S. Cargo Airline 14 Karbysheva Street 1215 Ulyanovsk, Russia

DATED: July 20, 2011 Artem Tarasenko Operations Manager Volga Dnepr-Unique Air Cargo, Inc. 9400 Grogan's Mill Road , Town Center Plaza , Suite 220 , The Woodlands , TX USA (832) 585-861 I

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 IMMEDIA TEL Y. 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 A IT ACHED SERVICE LIST.BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.
Application of VOLGA
- DNEPR 1.S. CARGO AIRLINE for an emergenc y exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.c. § 40109(g) Hickam AFB, HI
- Alexandria, LA ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket OST-2010-


### -------------------------)

APPLICATION OF VOLGA-DNEPR J.S. CARGO AIRLINE FOR AN EMERGENCY EXEMPTION
Volga-Dnepr 1.S. Cargo Airline ( " Volga-Dnepr Airline s" or "Volga-Dnepr") respectfully requests an emergency exemption from the provi s ion s of 49 U.S.C. §§ 40109(g) and 41703(c) , and otherwise applicable provisions of the Department of Tran spo rtation ("DOT") regulations,
so as to permit Volga-Dnepr to operate five (5) one-way all-cargo charter flights , utilizing Volga-Dnepr's AN-124-100 aircraft , to transport outsize cargo from Hickam Air Force B ase, HI to Alexandria , LA on or about luly 26, 2011
- August 2, 2011, on behalf of U.S. TRANSCOM. The cargo to be transported by Volga-Dnepr from Hickam AFB, HI to Alexandria , LA will consist of nine UH-60L helicopters, twelve OH-58D helicopters, and associated equipment. The UH-60L helicopter's dimen s ions are L-600" x W-120 " x H-148" weighing approximately 14 ,660 pounds each; the OH-58D helicopter's dimensions are L-408 " x W-74" x H-1l5" weighing approximately 3,110 pounds each. In support of its application , Volga-Dnepr states as follows:

### I. Volga-Dnepr is a foreign air carrier holding appropriate DOT authority to conduct allcargo charter foreign air tran s port a tion between a point or points in Ru ssia and a point or p oi nts in the United State s, and all-cargo charter transportation between the United Sate s and third countries pursuant to 14 C.F.R. Part 212. 2. V o lga-Dnepr will op erate flights o n behalf of U.S . TRANSCOM as part of an effort to provide needed lift to complete the required equipment rotation as se t forth above. The cargo was originally planned to be transported by U.S. TRANSCOM on organic lift, however , du e to the need to divert available organic lift to other areas, U.S . TRANSCOM i s requiring this cargo t o be tran s ported by commercial aircraft. U.S. Carriers were sol icited for movement of this cargo, however did not have the required availability, or required aircraft t o meet the requested movement timeline out l ined by U.S. TRANSCOM for transport of the cargo. The military stands to face substantial delays in highly time sensitive operations if the mis s ion is not completed within the se t schedule, while only the u se of Volga-Dnepr's aircraft can make it possible to perform the service in question on time. 3 . Due to the nature of the cargo , as well as the urgency of the shipments, the military cannot use alternative surface transp ort ation to ship the systems and equipment. 4. Given the tight sc hedule associated with the mis s ions, Volga

- Dnepr must perform the operations not later than stated above. Volga-Dnepr is polling all U.S. certificated air carriers on the attached s ervice list and will inform the Department of Transportation on the results of the poll. 5. Under 49 U.S.C. § 

### 40109(g), the Department may authori z e a foreign air carrier to tran spo rt commercial traffic between U . S. point s under limited circumstances. Specifically , the Department mu s t fmd that the authority is required in the public intere st; that becau se of an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of busines s 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. § 

### 401 09(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 s hipment of the payloads i s imperative to avoid substantial delay in U.S. TRANSCOM's operations. 7. In 

### this instance , an emergency created by unusual circumstances not arising in the normal course of business exists as a result of the diversion of U.S. TRANSCOM ' s organic fleet to other emergency tasks related to ongoing operations worldwide , the exigent circumstances surrounding the lack of availability of U.S. civil aircraft and the urgency of the shipment. As a result, the best way to resolve this emergency i s for the AN-124-100 to transport the payload in question. 8. As previously stated no U.S. carrier is available or has the aircraft to transport this cargo within the dates requested by U . S. TRANSCOM. Indeed, there is no viable transportation option by any commercially available means other than Volga-Dnepr's aircraft to meet desired timeline. 9. Grant of this exemption application is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship for the traffic at issue. In 

### fact, the shipper stands to suffer considerable disruption to its operations in the intere s t of national security and safety if the shipments are delayed. 10. Volga-Dnepr ' s fitness and ability to carry out the proposed transportation has been amply demonstrated through its conduct of numerous cargo charter operations world-wide, including traffic in and out of the United States, over the past several years - on behalf of the U.S. TRANSCOM . 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., Order s 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 docket s OST-04-17906, OST-0 7 -26806 , OST-07-27125, OST-07- 28857, OST-08-0003, and OST-09-0041. 12. In light of the exigent circumstances, Volga-Dnepr reque s t s 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 advi s e the Department of the responses of the intere s ted U.S. carners t o the poll conducted regarding this application.

### *******
WHEREFORE, Volga-Dnepr respectfully requests that the Department issue an emerge ncy exemption permitting it to operate five (5) one-way all-cargo charter flights, utilizing Volga-Dnepr's AN-124-100 aircraft, to transport cargo from Hickam Air Force Base , HI to Alexandria, LA on or aro und July 26, 20 II - August 2, 20 II as described herein , and grant s uch further relief as th e D epartment deems to be consistent wit h the public interest.

Dated: July 20, 2011 Respectfully submitted,

Artem Tarasenko Designated agent for Volga-Dnepr Airlines (832) 585-8611CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I ha ve on thi s day served a copy of the foregoing document upon all persons named on the attached service list via electronic mail.

Artem Tarasenko

Dated: J u ly 20, 2011

### Service List

Marshall S. Sinick 202/626 - 6600 Squire, Sanders & Dempsey 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, DC 20004 For: ALASKA AIRLINES, INC. FLORIDA WEST (FAX: 202/626
- 6780) Angelia Bird 901/434 - 8589 FEDERAL E XPRESS CORPORATION 3620 Hacks Cross Rd. Memphis, TN 38125 (FAX: 901/434
- 9289)

Carl B. Nelson, Jr. 202/496 - 5647 Associate General Counsel AMERICAN AIRLINES 1101 17th Street, N.W. Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 (FAX: 202/496
- 5660) Margot Wi egele 907/249 - 5142 NORTHERN AIR CARGO, Inc. 3900 West International Airport Road Anchorage, AK 99502 (FAX: 907/249
- 5190)

Scott Yohe 202/216 - 0700 Vice - President, Government Affairs 1629 K Street, N.W. Suite 501 Washington, DC 20006 For: DELTA AIR LINES, INC. (FAX: 202/216
- 0824) Tom Gillies 20 3 / 847 - 6000 President 117 Glover Avenue Norwalk , CT 06850 For: SOUTHERN AIR (FAX: 20 3 / 847 - 6000 )
Department of State - EUR/RUS Room 4223 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20250 (FAX: 202/736
- 4710) Russell E. Pommer 202/822 - 9121 Associate General Counsel and Director of Regulatory Affairs ATLAS AIR, INC. 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 875 Washington, DC 20006 (FAX: 202/822
- 9152) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs Department of State Bureau of Economics and Business Affairs, EB/TRA, Room 5830 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20250 (FAX: 202/647
- 4324) Jeffrey Manley 202/663 - 6655 1455 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. Wash ington, DC 20004 For: UNITED AIRLINES (FAX: 202/772
- 6670)

Roger Rapier 202/267 - 9555 (ATO
- R) Office of International Aviation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20591 (FAX: 202/267
- 9208) P ierre Murphy , Esq. 202 / 776 - 3980 1 20 0 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Suite 8 00 Washington, D.C. 20036 For: ARROW AIR, INC. (FAX: 202/ 776 - 3975 )David Vaughan 202/955 - 9864

Kelley Drye & Warren 1200 19th Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20036 For: U.P.S. (FAX: 202/955
- 9792) John L. Richardson 202/828 - 0158 202/371 - 2258 Crispin & Brenner| 1156 15 th Street, NW, Suite 1105 Washington, DC 20005 For: AMERIJET INTERNATIONAL, INC. (FAX: 20 2/828 - 0152) 

### Robert Silverberg 202 - 944 - 3300 Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff 1101 30th St., N.W., Suite 120 Washington, D.C. 20007 For: ABX Air, Inc 

### (FAX: 202/944
- 3304) Mark Atwood 202/463 - 2513 Sher & Blackwell 1850 M Street, N.W., Suite 9 00 Washington, D.C. 20036 For: KALITTA AIR, L.L.C. (FAX: 202/463
- 4950) Hershel Kamen 713/324 - 6697 Senior Managing Director of International Regulatory Affairs CONTINENTAL AIRLINES 2929 Allen Parkway Suite 1925 Houston, TX 77019 (FAX : 713/324 - 2749) Stephen H. Lachter 202/96 2 - 4321 1150 Connecticut Ave, N.W. Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20036 For: ASTAR AIR CARGO (FAX: 202/835
- 3219)
Ronald Priddy 703/358 - 8060 National Air Carriers’ Association 1000 Wilson Bvd., Suite 1700 Arlington, VA 22209 (FAX: 703/358
- 8070) Judy McKenzie 907/249 - 4100 6441 South Air Park Place Anchorage, AK 99502 LYNDEN AIR CARGO (FAX: 907/245
- 0642)


### Ben Graves 503 / 472 - 9361 EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL, INC. 1401 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 530 Washington, D.C. 20005 - 2147 (FAX: 202/638
- 4593) Mark McMillin 770/632 - 8215 Assistant General Counsel HLH Bldg, 101 World Drive Peachtree City, GA 30269 For: WORLD AIRLINES (FAX: 770/632
- 8048) David Vaughan 202/955 - 9864 Kelley Drye & Warren 1200 1 9 th Street, N.W. Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20036 For: U.P.S. (FAX: 202/955
- 9792) Kevin P. Montgomery 202/828 - 1002 POLAR AIR CARGO 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 875 Washington, DC 20006 (FAX: 202/828
- 1003)