F-Saint-Etienne: operation of scheduled air services

Invitation to tender issued by France pursuant to Article 4(1)(d) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 for the operation of scheduled air services between Saint-Étienne (Bouthéon) and Paris (Orly)

(2005/C 154/10)

1.   Introduction: Pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes, France has decided to impose public service obligations in respect of scheduled air services operated between Saint-Etienne (Bouthéon) and Paris (Orly). The standards required by these public service obligations were published in the Official Journal of the European Communities C 194 of 14 August 2002.

If, on 17 October 2005, no air carrier has commenced or is about to commence operating scheduled air services between Saint Etienne (Bouthéon) and Paris (Orly) in accordance with the public service obligation imposed and without requesting compensation, France has decided, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4(1)(d) of the abovementioned regulation, to limit access to each of these routes to a single air carrier and to offer the right to operate such services from 17 November 2005.

2.   Subject of the invitation to tender: Operation from 17 November 2005 of scheduled air services between Saint Etienne (Bouthéon) and Paris (Orly) in accordance with the public service obligation imposed on this route, as published in Official Journal of the European Communities C 194 of 14 August 2002.

3.   Participation in the tender procedure: Participation is open to all air carriers who hold a valid operating licence issued in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air carriers.

4.   Tender procedure: This invitation to tender is subject to the provisions of Article 4(1)(d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92.

5.   Tender dossier: The full tender dossier, including the specific rules for this invitation and the public service delegation agreement and its technical annex (text of public service obligations published in the Official Journal of the European Communities) is obtainable free of charge from:

Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Saint-Etienne Bouthéon/Montbrison, Direction administrative et financière, 57, Cours Fauriel, F-42024 Saint-Etienne Cedex 2; tel. (33-4) 77 43 04 42, fax (33-4) 77 43 04 14.

6.   Financial compensation: Tenders must explicitly state the amount of compensation required for the operation of the route for 3 years from the planned date of commencement of operation (with an annual breakdown). The exact amount of compensation finally granted will be determined annually ex-post on the basis of the costs and revenue actually generated by the service, within the limits of the amount stated in the tender. This maximum limit may be revised only in the event of unforeseen changes in operating conditions.

The annual payments shall be made in the form of advance payments and an adjustment balance. The payment of the adjustment balance shall be effected only after approval of the carrier's accounts for the relevant route and verification of the execution of the service in accordance with the conditions provided for in point 8 below.

If the contract is terminated before the completion of its term, the provisions of point 8 shall be implemented as soon as possible so as to enable the payment to the carrier of the balance of the financial compensation due to it, with the maximum limit indicated in the first paragraph being reduced, where appropriate, pro rata with the actual duration of the operation.

7.   Duration of the contract: The duration of the contract (public service delegation agreement) is 3 years from the planned date for starting operation of the air services mentioned in point 2 of this invitation to tender.

8.   Verification of execution of the service and audit of the carrier's accounts: The operation of the contracted services and the carrier's cost accounting for the relevant route will be the subject of an annual examination in cooperation with the carrier.

9.   Termination and notice: The contract may be terminated by either of the signatory parties before the normal end of the validity of the contract provided that a 6-month period of notice is observed. If the carrier fails to comply with a public service obligation, it shall be deemed to have terminated the contract without notice if it has not resumed the service in accordance with the public service obligations within a period of one month after having been served with a notice of default.

10.   Penalties: Failure by the carrier to observe the period of notice referred to in point 9 will be subject either to the payment of an administrative fine in accordance with Article R. 330-20 of the Civil Aviation Code or to a penalty calculated on the basis of the number of months of default and the actual deficit of the route during the year in question up to the level of the maximum financial compensation provided for in point 6.

In the event of a serious failure to meet the public service obligations, termination of the contract may be declared on the grounds that the carrier has not served any notice.

In the event of failures limited to public service obligations, reductions shall be applied to the maximum financial compensation provided for in point 6, without prejudice to the application of the provisions of Article R. 330-20 of the Civil Aviation Code. These reductions shall, where appropriate, take account of the number of flights cancelled for reasons for which the carrier can be blamed, the number of flights operated without complying with the public service obligations in terms of stops, the number of days on which the public service obligations have not been complied with in terms of time spent at destination, or the use of computerised reservation services.

11.   Presentation of tenders: Tenders must be sent by post, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, date as on the postmark, or delivered by hand to the address below with proof of receipt, at the latest 6 weeks after the date of publication of this invitation to tender in the Official Journal of the European Union before 17.00 local time, to the following address:

Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Saint-Étienne/Montbrison, 57, Cours Fauriel, F-42024 Saint-Étienne Cedex 2; tel. (33-4) 77 43 04 42, fax (33-4) 77 43 04 14.

12.   Validity of the invitation to tender: In accordance with Article 4(1)(d) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, the validity of this invitation to tender is subject to the condition that no Community carrier presents, by 17 October 2005, a programme for operating the route in question from 17 November 2005 in accordance with the public service obligation imposed, without receiving any financial compensation.