 

			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on March 25, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST 2004-17336

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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:  March
12, 2004, as amended March 23, 2004

Relief requested:  Exemption from 49 U.S.C. section 40109(g) to permit
the applicant to operate, on behalf of Lockheed Martin, two, one-way
cargo charter flights, using its AN-124-100 aircraft, during the period
March 27-31, 2004.  One flight will be from North Island NAS,
California, to Denver, Colorado, carrying one Centaur III Launch Vehicle
Upper Stage and associated equipment, and the other flight will operate
from Denver to Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying an Atlas and Centaur
IIAS Launch Vehicle and associated equipment.  The applicant stated that
Lockheed Martin urgently needs lift of the cargo in order to meet
aggressive final assembly and test schedules, following an unanticipated
manufacturing dalay, that the cargo is too large for transportation on
U.S.-carrier aircraft; and that surface transportation is not feasible
because of the cargo’s delicate nature and high value.

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
operation and that it had no comment or did not oppose grant of the
requested authority.

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).

                                                                        
        DISPOSITION

Action: Approved                                                        
                                             Action date:  March 25,
2004

Effective dates of authority granted:  March 25, 2004, through March 31,
2004

Basis for approval:  We are granting Volga-Dnepr’s request to operate
its proposed one-way flights from North Island to Denver, and from
Denver to Cape Canaveral, through March 31, 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 urgent
need to move the cargo promptly to meet aggressive final assembly and
test schedules, following an unanticipated manufacturing delay, the fact
that the cargo could not be transported by surface transportation
because of its delicate nature, the potential negative impact of
delivery delay; and the unique, outsized nature of the cargo,
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 that could be used
to conduct the operations at issue here.  We also found that grant of
this authority would prevent unreasonable hardship to Lockheed Martin. 
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
operation.

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

