(a) Unless excepted under paragraph (f) or (g) of this section, no
certificate holder certificated in accordance with part 119 for part 121
or 135 operations may conduct more commercial air tours in the Grand
Canyon National Park in any calendar year than the number of allocations
specified on the certificate holder's operations specifications.
(b) The Administrator determines the number of initial allocations for
each certificate holder based on the total number of commercial air tours
conducted by the certificate holder and reported to the FAA during the
period beginning on May 1, 1997 and ending on April 30, 1998, unless
excepted under paragraph (g).
(c) Certificate holders who conducted commercial air tours during the
base year and reported them to the FAA receive an initial allocation.
(d) A certificate holder must use one allocation for each flight that
is a commercial air tour, unless excepted under paragraph (f) or (g) of
this section.
(e) Each certificate holder's operation specifications will identify
the following information, as applicable:
(1) Total SFRA allocations; and
(2) Dragon corridor and Zuni Point corridor allocations.
(f) Certificate holders satisfying the requirements of §93.315 of this
subpart are not required to use a commercial air tour allocation for each
commercial air tour flight in the GCNP SFRA provided the following
conditions are satisfied:
(1) The certificate holder conducts its operations in conformance with
the routes and airspace authorizations as specified in its Grand Canyon
National Park Special Flight Rules Area operations specifications;
(2) The certificate holder must have executed a written contract with
the Hualapai Indian Nation which grants the certificate holder a trespass
permit and specifies the maximum number of flights to be permitted to land
at Grand Canyon West Airport and at other sites located in the vicinity of
that airport and operates in compliance with that contract; and
(3) The certificate holder must have a valid operations specification
that authorizes the certificate holder to conduct the operations specified
in the contract with the Hualapai Indian Nation and specifically approves
the number of operations that may transit the Grand Canyon National Park
Special Flight Rules Area under this exception.
(g) Certificate holders conducting commercial air tours at or above
14,500 feet MSL but below 18,000 feet MSL who did not receive initial
allocations in 1999 because they were not required to report during the
base year may operate without an allocation when conducting air tours at
those altitudes. Certificate holders conducting commercial air tours in
the area affected by the eastward shift of the SFRA who did not receive
initial allocations in 1999 because they were not required to report
during the base year may continue to operate on the specified routes
without an allocation in the area bounded by longitude line 111 degrees 42
minutes east and longitude line 111 degrees 36 minutes east. This
exception does not include operation in the Zuni Point corridor.