 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on January 6, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST 2003-16839

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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:  VOLGA-DNEPR J.S. CARGO AIRLINE                              
               

Date Filed:  December 31, 2003, as supplemented January 5, 2004.

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g) to permit
the applicant to operate one, one-way, cargo charter flight from San
Juan, Puerto Rico, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, on or about January 6,
2004, using its AN-124-100 aircraft to transport outsized refrigeration
units, on behalf of the shipper, Service By Air, Inc.  The applicant
stated that these refrigeration units are being taken from Pfizer
Pharmaceutical’s Puerto Rican facility to be installed at Pfizer’s
Michigan plant on January 8, 2004, and that an unanticipated delay in
the preparation of the installation site at the Michigan facility made
it impossible for Pfizer to schedule the transfer of the units in a more
timely manner, thus necessitating transportation by air.  Volga-Dnepr
asserted that both Service By Air and Pfizer Pharmaceutical will suffer
losses if the shipment does not occur on time.  In addition, the
applicant stated that the size and nature of the shipment foreclosed the
possibility of carriage by surface or sea transportation and that these
large units cannot be transported on U.S. carrier aircraft.

Applicant representative:  Glenn P. Wicks, 202-457-7790             DOT
analyst:  Allen F. Brown, 202-366-2405

Responsive pleadings:  Volga-Dnepr served its application on those U.S.
carriers operating large all-cargo aircraft.  Each carrier indicated
that it did not have aircraft available to conduct the proposed
operations and that it had no comment or did not oppose grant of the
requested authority to Volga-Dnepr.

Statutory Standards:  Under 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g), we may authorize
a foreign air carrier to carry commercial traffic between U.S. points
(i.e., cabotage traffic) under limited circumstances.  Specifically, we
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. section 41102; that all
possible efforts have been made to place the traffic on U.S. carriers;
and that the transportation is necessary to avoid unreasonable hardship
to the traffic involved (an additional required finding, concerning
emergency transportation during labor disputes, was not relevant here). 
For examples of earlier grants of authority of this type, see, i.e.,
Order 2001-5-23.

                                                                        
        DISPOSITION

Action: Approved                                                        
                                               Action date:  January 6,
2004

Effective dates of authority granted:  January 6, 2004, through January
9, 2004.

Basis for approval:  We are granting Volga-Dnepr’s request to operate
its proposed flight from San Juan to Grand Rapids, through January 9,
2004.  We found that its request met all the relevant criteria of 49
U.S.C. section 40109(g) for the grant of an exemption of this type and
that the grant was required in the public interest.  Specifically, we
were persuaded that the unique, outsized nature of the cargo, coupled
with the urgent need to move the cargo quickly due to an unanticipated
construction delay, and the potentially serious negative consequences of
any delivery delay on 

Pfizer’s pharmaceutical operations, constituted an emergency not
arising in the normal course of business.  Moreover, based on the
representations of the U.S. carriers, we concluded that no U.S. carrier
had aircraft available which could be used to conduct the operation at
issue here.  We also found that grant of this authority was necessary to
prevent unreasonable hardship to the shipper and to Pfizer.  Finally, we
found that the applicant was qualified to perform its proposed
operation.

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to our
standard exemption conditions and to the condition that the applicant
must comply with an FAA-approved flight routing for the authorized
flight.

Action taken by:         Karan K. Bhatia

                                    Assistant Secretary

                       for Aviation and International Affairs	

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

http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp

