Evergreen and Saudi Arabian / Wet Lease / December 17, 1997

Mr. Paul L. Gretch

Director, Office of International Aviation

Room 6412

Department of Transportation

400 7th Street, S.W.

Washington, D. C. 20590

December 17, 1997

Dear Mr. Gretch:

On behalf of Evergreen International Airlines, Inc. ("Evergreen"), we hereby submit this application for a Statement of Authorization which would permit Evergreen to continue to wet lease one all-cargo aircraft to Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation ("Saudia") for up to four weekly U.S.-Saudi Arabia round-trip flights through December 31, 1998.

Evergreen and Saudia have extended their wet lease providing for the wet lease by Evergreen to Saudia of a B 747 aircraft for use in Saudia's scheduled all-cargo operations. It is a standard wet lease and does not involve any capacity sharing arrangement. Evergreen and Saudia have conducted similar wet lease operations for several years. The current wet lease operation was approved for a period ending December 31, 1997.

Mr. Paul L. Gretch December 17, 1997

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This application is being filed as quickly as possible after receipt by counsel of the necessary information. Copies of this application will be sent interested parties by telecopy and they will be polled for their response.

Set forth below is detailed information concerning the wet lease:

The applicant is Evergreen International Airlines, Inc., a U.S. carrier with world-wide charter authority and extensive international scheduled all-cargo and combination route authority.

The charterer is Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia. Saudia is authorized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to operate the route involved in this application as specified in the Air Transport Service Agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Saudia has exemption authorization covering such route.

The aircraft chartered is a B 747-200 F with a cargo capacity of 245,000 lbs. The aircraft fully complies with FAA noise requirements.

The agreed all-cargo schedule in which the aircraft is used involves up to four round-trip flights per week between New York (JFK) and Saudi Arabia via Brussels, Belgium.

Mr. Paul L. Gretch December 17, 1997

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It is respectfully requested that the Statement of Authorization cover a one-year period ending December 31, 1998 consistent with the term of the current authority.

This application is fully supported by the comity and reciprocity considerations described in Saudia's permit application in Docket 44511 and in prior DOT authorizations of Saudia-Flying Tiger/Federal Express operations.

The service to be operated is one which Saudia could itself operate under a continuation of its current exemption authority and, in fact, is in replacement of flights operated earlier by Saudia. However, in deciding to operate the service through a wet lease arrangement, the proposed agreement will provide significant economic benefits to a U.S. carrier which it would not otherwise enjoy. Moreover, there is substantial precedent supporting this agreement since Evergreen has for several years provided comparable wet lease services for Air-India, Air France, Qantas, Turkish Airlines, and JAL, as well as Saudia, which have been routinely approved by the Department.

Evergreen and Saudia firmly believe that the public interest will be served by permitting Saudia, which is experiencing a temporary equipment shortage, to provide an all-cargo service which is vital to the economy of Saudi Arabia. Consequently, expeditious granting of the authority requested will be of considerable benefit to U.S. shippers.

Mr. Paul L. Gretch December 17, 1997

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Therefore, Evergreen respectfully requests that the Department of Transportation issue the Statement of Authorization requested herein.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard P. Taylor

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D. C. 10026

(202) 429-6459

Counsel for Evergreen International Airlines, Inc.