### BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of ChinaEastern Airlines Corporation Limited ForExemption Authority Pursuantto 49 U.S.C. 

### § 40109 ) ) ) 

### ) Docket OST-2015- ) ) )



# ___________________________________ ) APPLICATION OF CHINAEASTERNAIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED FOREXEMPTION AUTHORITY PURSUANT TO 49 U.S.C. § 

### 40109

DATED: February 12,2015 Communications with respect to this document should be directed to: Evelyn D. Sahr Jonathan T. Linde Beth A. FitzPatrick ECKERT SEAMANS CHERIN & 

### MELLOTT, LLC 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Twelfth Floor Washington, DC 20006 (202) 659-6622 (Telephone) (202) 659-6699 (Facsimile) Attorneys for ChinaEastern Airlines Corporation Limited

NOTICE: Counselwill poll the interested carriers to ensure that there are no objections to this application andwill promptly notify the Department ofthe results.BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Application of China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited For Exemption Authority Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 ) ) ) ) Docket OST-2015- ) ) )



## __________________________________) APPLICATION OF CIDNA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED FOREXEMPTION AUTHORITY PURSUANT TO 49 U.S.C. § 40109



### China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited ("China Eastern"), in accordance with the provisions of49 U.S.C. § 40109(c), and Subpart C ofthe Department's Rules ofPractice (14 C.F.R. § 302.301 etseq.), asks the Department for authority authorizing it to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation ofpersons, property, and mail between Chengdu, People's Republic ofChina, and Los Angeles, viaNanjing beginning June 30,2015. China Eastern respectfully requests expedited treatment ofthis application so thatmarketing and sale ofthe flights may begin as soon as possible. ChinaEastern will poll the carriers on the service list and notify the Department ofthe results. In support ofthis application, China Eastern submits the following: 1. ByNotice of Action Taken on December 6, 2005 in Docket OST-2005-23074, the Department granted China Eastern an exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 

### 41301 enabling it to carrypersons, property, and mail in scheduled service between any point or points in the People's Republic ofChina, and Los Angeles, with all flights operating via Shanghai and/or Beijing. The Department renewed this exemption mostrecently on January 9, 2014. (SeeApplication for Exemptionfor China EasternAirlines Corporation Limited DOT-OST-2015- Februmy 12,2015 Notice of Action Taken on January 9, 2014 inDocket OST-2005-23074.) ChinaEastern filed

an application for renewal onDecember 23, 2014 and relies upon the automatic extension provisions ofthe Administrative Procedures Act. 2. ChinaEastern is a flag carrier ofthe People's Republic ofChina and currently holds a foreign air carrier permit authorizing scheduled foreign air transportation ofpersons, property, and mail between Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai viaTokyo or another pointin Japan to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu or Seattle. (See DOT Order 92-11- 7.) 3. The grant ofthis authority will allow ChinaEasternto provide valuable services that were not authorized inits original foreign air carrier permit but are in the public interest. The requested exemption authority is consistent withthe United States-China Air Transport Agreement, signed September 17, 1980 (the "Agreement"), as amended by a U.S.- ChinaProtocol to the Agreement, signed April 8, 1999, a Memorandum ofConsultations and Protocol to the Agreement, signed July 23, 2004, and the Protocol to Amend the Agreement, signed July 9, 2007. 1 ChinaEastern is fit, willing, and able to perform the services for which the exemption is sought and will operate the proposed service using A330-300 aircraft.

1 "The People's Republic ofChinamay designate an unlimited number ofairlines to operate the agreed services on China Routes A and B. Airlines designated pursuant to this subparagraph maybegin services as ofAugust 1, 2007." (Subparagraph (d) ofParagraph (1) ofArticle 3 ofthe Protocol to Amend the Agreement, signed July 9, 2007) Route A is defmed as "Any airlines designated by the Government ofthe People's Republic ofChina for Route A shall be entitled to operate combination and all-cargo services with full traffic rights onthe following route, in both directions: From any point orpoints in the People's Republic ofChina, via Tokyo ofanother point in Japan, to Anchorage, Chicago, Fairbanks, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Portland and two additional points in the United States to be selectedby the People's Republic of China from among U.S. airports open to scheduled international operations." (Annex I, section II ofthe U.S.- China Protocol to the Agreement, signed April 8, 1999)ApplicationforExemptionfor China EasternAirlines Corporation Limited DOT-OST-2015- Februmy 12,2015 4. The renewal ofthis authority is in the public interest, as it will permit China Eastern to continue providing enhanced air transportation services for persons traveling and shipping goods between the United States and China. WHEREFORE, China Eastern respectfully requests that the Department grant its application for exemption authority to perform the scheduled foreign air transportation described above. China Eastern also requests expedited treatment ofthis application, and will poll the carriers on the service list and notify the Department ofthe results ofsuch polling.

Dated: February 12, 2015 Respectfully submitted, ECKERT SEAMANS CHERIN & MELLOTT, LLC By:

# rbu:JA~~ Evelyn D. Sahr Jonathan T. Linde BethA. FitzPatrick 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Twelfth Floor Washington, DC 20006 (202) 659-6622 (Telephone) (202) 659-6699 (Facsimile) Attorneys for China Eastern Airlines Corporation LimitedCERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a true and correct copy ofthe foregoing Exemption Application for China Eastern Airlines was served by electronic mail this 12thday ofFebruary, 2015 on the following:

TO COMPANY E-MAIL Thomas S. Engle U.S. Department ofState englets\a}state.gov JohnS. Duncan Federal Aviation john.s.duncan@faa.gov Administration Sascha Van der Bellen DeltaAirlines Sascha.vanderbellen@delta.corn Christopher Walker Chris.walker@delta.com Robert Wirick American Airlines Inc. robert.wirick@aa.com Howard Kass howard.kass@aa.com Dan Weiss United Air Lines, Inc. dan.weiss@united.com Jonathan Hill Hawaiian Airlines jhill@cooley.com Parker Erkmann perkmann(a}cooley.com Kevin Montgomery Polar Air Cargo kevin.montgornery@polaraircargo. com Russell E. Pommer Atlas Air, Inc. rpornmer\a}atlasair.com Bailey Leopard Federal Express gbleopard@fedex.corn Nancy Sparks nssparks@}fedex.corn Anita Mosner Holland & Knight anita.rnosner@hklaw.corn Jennifer Nowak (United Parcel Service) jennifer.nowak@}hklaw.com Aaron Goerlich Southern Air agoerlich@}ggh-airlaw.com FrankAvent Airline Info fbavent@}airlineinfo.com

{N0204611.1}