Sustaining air services to peripheral regions Dr. George Williams Centre for Air Transport in...
-
Upload
eleanore-blake -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
0
Transcript of Sustaining air services to peripheral regions Dr. George Williams Centre for Air Transport in...
Sustaining air servicesto peripheral regions
Dr. George WilliamsCentre for Air Transport
in Remoter Regions
Contents
• PSO rules• PSO application by country
• Examples of innovative ideas:
Knock airportNorth Cape airportDay trip adventures
The PSO system
• EU Member States have the legal authority to impose a PSO in respect to scheduled air services on routes serving peripheral or development regions within their jurisdiction.
• PSOs can also be imposed on cross-border routes.
Reasons for imposing a PSO
• To link small or remote communities, and/or islands to economic and administrative centres
• To connect small or remote communities, and/or islands to the TEN-T Networks and hub airports
• To reduce peripherality and maintain social and/or political cohesion and integration
Reasons for imposing a PSO
• To sustain and develop economic activity and promote inward investment to development regions
• To promote tourism and develop domestic as well as international transport
Restrictions on imposing a PSO
• A PSO can not apply to routes ‘where other forms of transport can ensure an adequate and uninterrupted service when the air service capacity exceeds 30,000 seats per year’.
• However, the capacity on many PSO routes with good surface transport greatly exceeds this figure.
Technical rules
• Member states in preparing PSOs are required to issue a public invitation to tender which is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
• The invitation to tender is open to all air carriers registered in the EEA and can be made in relation to a single route (or group of routes in the case of Norway).
• The deadline for submitting tenders is one month after the day of publication.
PSO tender usually covers:
The minimum service levels in terms of capacity, frequency and scheduling which an air carrier would need to satisfy
Any limits on the level of fares or specific fare types and rules, which must be adhered to
Rules concerning any amendments, in particular termination of a contract as a result of unforeseeable changes in costs and demand
Tendering Process
• Initial tendering on the basis of no subsidy
• If no carrier is willing to provide the level of service and fares without subsidy, then the tender is reissued
• This time offering subsidy and limiting access to one carrier for a period of three years
Tendering Process
• Selection of the carrier takes into consideration the adequacy of the services being offered, the fares to be charged to passengers and the level of subsidy required, if any.
• Selection must be made two months after submission of the proposal, so that other Member States have sufficient time to submit comments.
Growing Number of PSOs
0
50
100
150
200
250
Nu
mb
er
of
do
me
sti
c P
SO
s im
po
se
d
Source: Use and Reform of the Public Service Obligation, Corin Minshall, MSc thesis, 2004, Cranfield University
Number of PSO Routes by Country in 2003
France 49
Germany 5
Iceland 1
Ireland 6
Italy 6
Norway 61
Portugal 10
Scotland 12
Spain 13
Sweden 11
Norwegian PSO Routes 2003-2006
Route area Tendering carriers Winning tender
1 Widerøe, Arctic Air Widerøe
2 Widerøe, Arctic Air Widerøe
3 Norwegian, Widerøe, Kato Norwegian*
4 Norwegian, Widerøe, Kato Norwegian*
5 Widerøe Widerøe
6 Widerøe Widerøe
7 Kato, Arctic Air, Widerøe Kato
Source: Ministry of Transport and Communications, Norway *Now operated by Widerøe
Norwegian PSO Routes 2003-2006
Route area Tendering carriers Winning tender
8 Kato, Arctic Air, Widerøe Kato
9 Widerøe, Kato, Coast Air Widerøe
10 Widerøe, Arctic Air Widerøe
11 Danish AT, Widerøe, Coast Air Danish AT
12 Widerøe, Coast Air Widerøe
13 Widerøe, Coast Air Widerøe
14 Coast Air, Danish AT, European Executive Express, Arctic Air
Coast Air
15 Widerøe, Coast Air, Danish AT, European Executive Express, Kato
Widerøe
Annual Subvention levels on Norwegian PSOs
1997-2000 31.8 million euros
2000-2003 51.1 million euros
2003-2006 46.9 million euros
Swedish PSO Routes in 2003
Arlanda to: Carrier Aircraft Subsidy per passenger (euros)
Hagfors Swedline Beech 1900 137
Torsby Swedline Beech 1900 137
Hemavan Swedline Saab 2000 224
Gallivare Swedline Saab 2000 81
Storuman Skyways Fokker 50 92
Umea to:
Ostersund Nordic Saab 340 120
Lulea to:
Pajala European Exec Exp
Jetstream 510
Scottish PSO traffic, subsidy and operating data
Route(s) Airline Aircraft Subsidy per passenger (euros)
Glasgow Loganair Twin Otter 80.4
Benbecula -Stornoway
Highland Jetstream 32.2
Orkney Inter-island
Loganair Islander 34.4
Shetland Inter-island
Loganair Islander 71.2
Data refers to year 2000
Irish PSO tendering round 2002-2005
Dublin to: Previous operator
Successful tender
Current operator
Derry Loganair Loganair Loganair
Donegal Aer Arann Euroceltic* Aer Arann
Galway Aer Arann Aer Arann Aer Arann
Kerry Aer Arann Aer Arann Aer Arann
Knock Aer Arann Aer Arann Aer Arann
Sligo Aer Arann Euroceltic* Aer Arann
* Euroceltic ceased trading during winter 2002
Subvention levels (000 euros) on Irish PSOs
Dublin to Donegal Galway Kerry Sligo
1997 454 444 698 603
1999 1011 1364 956 874
2001 1802 3999 3441 2725
2003 2100 5105 4479 2700
Source: Department of Transport, Ireland
PSO routes as a % of domestic seat capacity
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Irela
nd
Norway
France
Sweden
UK *
Source: Use and Reform of the Public Service Obligation, Corin Minshall, MSc thesis, 2004, Cranfield University
Knock knock what’s there?
• An international airport on a foggy, boggy hill
• Opened in 1986 serving a town with 400 people
• Catholic shrine at Knock where Mary appeared to a group of children in 1879.
• Only Marian shrine in Europe without a local airport
• After Pope’s visit in 1979, local parish priest James Horan began a campaign for an airport at Knock to enable pilgrims to have easy access to the shrine
Deemed a ‘Miracle of the 1980s’
• In 1981 Charles Haughey, the then Taoiseach and a Mayo man, promised a grant of 8 million punts for the airport following an extended lunch
• Critics said it was the most expensive lunch Charlie had ever had!
• He gave another 3 million punts when back in power a few years later. (In between, the Fine Gael Government had refused to provide funding for the airport.)
• Monsignor Horan raised 4 million punts through raffles and dances (and collections in the US)
Knock International Airport
• 2300 metres runway
• In 2001, 198,700 passengers
• In 2002, 197,600 passengers
• In 2003, 247,000 passengers
• In 2004, 373,000 passengers
Knock Scheduled Services
Destination Airline Frequency
Dublin Aer Arann Daily
Birmingham MyTravelLite Daily
bmibaby Daily
Liverpool Aer Arann Daily
London Gatwick Ryanair Daily
easyJet Daily
London Stansted Ryanair Daily
Manchester bmibaby Daily
Knock Summer Season Charter Destinations
(2004 Charter traffic 58,700)
Alicante
Faro
Lanzarote
Malaga
Palma
Rome
Knock Airport – key facts
• 1.5 million pilgrims annually visit the Knock shrine
• Knock village has a population of 1,400
• £50m Airport Business Park established in 2001
which was expected to create 2,000 jobs
• 140 staff of Dept of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht
Affairs relocated to Knock in 2004
• Minister Eamonn O’Cuiv views Knock Airport as a
centre of development for all of Connachct region
Knock Airport – Economic Impact
• 100 full-time and 29 part-time jobs at the airport (373,000 pax in 2004)
• Additional 56 jobs created supplying goods and services to the airport (32 indirect and 24 induced). The multiplier is therefore 1.56
• Airport’s contribution to GDP estimated at €6.5mn
• 52% of passengers are inbound tourists staying an average of 6 days (VFR 26%, Business 12%)
Knock Airport – Economic Impact
• Total spend of inbound tourists using Knock airport is estimated at €37mn
• Tourism spend by Knock airport passengers is estimated to support 584 jobs (482 direct, 102 induced) in the wider economy, of which at least 212 are in the catchment area of the airport
• Knock airport was expected to return a profit of €437,500 in 2004
Source: Goodbody Economic Consultants, Dublin, 2004
North Cape Airport, Banak (Lakselv)
• In 2002, 68,938 passengers
• In 2003, 47,532 passengers
• In 2004, 58,598 passengers
• PSO services to Tromsø, Kirkenes, and Alta
• Charter flights
• Freight flights
North Cape Airport Attractions
• Northern most part of Europe’s mainland
• Midnight Sun – 24 hour golf
• Hurtigruta
• Sami Culture
• Fishing
Orca Safari Day Trips
• From 11 UK airports to Harstad/Evenes
• Departures at 05.00 throughout the autumn
• Day trip for £289 (420 euros)
• Also, weekend whale watching trips for £890