(4)

The main features of the PSOs published in the two notices are as follows: — Each of the 10 routes published in the Notice of 21 April 2006 and the public service obligations imposed upon them must be accepted individually in their entirety and as a whole by the carrier concerned. — The two routes Alghero–Rome and Alghero–Milan (together) and the two routes Olbia–Rome and Olbia–Milan (together) constitute a single package which must be accepted in their entirety and as a whole by the carriers concerned without any compensation of any kind or origin. The routes Cagliari–Rome and Cagliari–Milan, on the other hand, must be accepted individually, in their entirety and as a whole by the carriers concerned without any compensation of any kind or origin. — Each single carrier (or leading carrier) which accepts to fulfill the public service obligations must provide a performance security for the purpose of guaranteeing the correct execution and continuation of the service. This security must amount to at least 5 % of the total estimated turnover evaluated by ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation Authority) for the air services scheduled for each package of routes in question. The security shall be payable to ENAC, which will use it to ensure the continuation of the services concerned in the event of unjustified abandonment, and shall consist of a first request bank surety (50 %) and an insurance surety (for the remaining 50 %). To avoid the overcapacity which would result if several carriers were to accept a route subject to the obligations, considering the infrastructure limitations and conditions of the airports involved, ENAC, at the behest of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, has the task of intervening in the public interest to control the accepting carriers' operating programmes so as to ensure that they are completely in line with the travel requirements underlying the obligations imposed. Such intervention should be aimed at a fair redistribution of routes and frequencies between the accepting carriers on the basis of the volumes of traffic on the routes (and packages of routes) in question, ascertained for each of them over the previous two years. — The minimum frequency, timetables and capacity to be offered for each route are specified under point ‘2. ORGANISATION OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS’ of the notices of 24 March 2006 and of 21 April 2006. — The minimum capacity of the aircraft to be used is stipulated under point ‘3. TYPE OF AIRCRAFT TO BE USED ON EACH ROUTE’ of the notices of 24 March 2006 and of 21 April 2006. — The fare structure for all the routes concerned is given under point ‘4. FARES’ of the notices of 24 March 2006 and 21 April 2006. In particular, regarding reduced fares, point 4.8 of both notices state that carriers operating on the affected routes are legally bound to apply the reduced fares (specified under point ‘4. FARES’), to at least people born in Sardinia, even if they do not live in Sardinia. — According to Decree No 35, sent to the Commission on 29 December 2005, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana on 11 January 2006 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 24 March 2006, the start and end of the imposition for the routes concerned was 31 March 2006 and 30 March 2009. However, on 28 February 2006 the Italian authorities informed the Commission of the adoption on 23 February 2006 of a decree amending (Permanent Representation Letter with Protocol No 2321) these dates to 2 May 2006 and 1 May 2009. These were the dates subsequently published in the Official Journal. — According to Decree No 36, sent to the Commission on 29 December 2005, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana on 11 January 2006 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 April 2006, the start and end of the imposition for the routes concerned were foreseen to be determined in the future. Therefore the publication in the Official Journal did not contain any definitive start and end dates for the imposition. — Carriers intending to accept the public service obligations must present a formal acceptance to the competent Italian authority within 30 days of publication of the notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.