OST-96-1381 | OST-97-2877 (42462) | Exemption, Seoul-Denver | Intermodal Cargo Service | Motion and Reply of World Airways | October 8, 1997

Application of

KOREAN AIR LINES CO., LTD. | Docket OST-96-1381

for an exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301

(Seoul - Denver)

Application of

KOREAN AIR LINES CO., LTD. | Docket OST-97-2877 former Docket 42462

for an exemption from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 and 14 C.F.R. Part 222 )

(intermodal cargo service)

RESPONSE OF WORLD AIRWAYS. INC.

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raised by KAL in its replies, it would be unfair and inconsistent with the public interest for the Department to deny this request.

In both of its replies, KAL seeks to minimize the significance of the extra-bilateral authority it is requesting and seems to contend that the principle at stake in these proceedings is not important because the authority the applicant seeks is not important. World rejects KAL's new contention that disputes regarding comity and reciprocity may be decided differently depending upon the importance of the extra-bilateral authority requested by the foreign carrier. It also rejects KAL's suggestion that the authorities at issue in these proceedings are not important.

The principle at issue here is very straightforward. No foreign carrier should, over the objection of a U.S. carrier, be permitted to receive and exercise extra-bilateral authority as long as the government designating that foreign carrier denies to a U.S. carrier operating authority clearly covered by a bilateral agreement. The importance of this principle cannot be minimized, and the maintenance of it in all circumstances is essential. It should not be a principle which is enforced or not enforced depending upon the foreign carrier's characterization of the significance of the operating authority it is seeking. World encourages the Department to reject KAL's novel contention.

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Moreover, World believes that the Department should be reluctant to accept KAL's characterization regarding the importance of the authority at issue in these proceedings. Obviously, if that authority were not important, KAL would not be asking for it. If that authority were not significant, it would not be necessary for KILL to request it and to be required to demonstrate that approval of its request is consistent with the public interest.

While the authority at issue in these proceedings may not be as important as the authority being denied to World by the Government of Korea, that fact certainly does not warrant approval of the pending applications.

In summary, KAL's representation that it "does not request any expansion of existing rights," Consolidated Reply dated September 29, 1997, page 2, and its objection to its opponents' characterization of the authority it seeks as "additional" rights, is nonsense. By these applications, KAL seeks to offer new or different services in the U.S.-Korea market which are not provided for in the governing bilateral agreement. As a technical matter, KAL ought not be allowed to exercise any extrabilateral authority in the U.S.-Korea market as long as World continues to be barred from markets the bilateral grants to U.S. carriers. But World is not presently seeking such a result. All

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it is contending here is that the pending applications should not be approved.

Respectfully submitted,

John L. Richardson

SEEGER POTTER RICHARDSON

2121 K Street, N.W.

Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20037

(202) 496-1234

October 8, 1997