Imposition of public service obligations in respect of air routes between the Balearic Islands pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-12-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Balearic Islands, air transport, airline, inland transport, provision of services, public service, transport capacity

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Imposition of public service obligations in respect of air routes between the Balearic Islands
pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92

(2003/C 307/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

I. Air routes concerned

Public service obligations shall be imposed in respect of scheduled air services provided on the following
routes:

(a) Majorca–Ibiza;

(b) Majorca–Minorca;

(c) Minorca–Ibiza.

II. General conditions

1.

2.

Community air carriers wishing to operate scheduled air services in conformity with the public
service obligations must hold a valid operating licence,
in accordance with Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2407/92 (1) on licensing of air carriers.

to the Directorate-General

for Civil Aviation (Dirección General de
Such carriers must submit
Aviación Civil), by the dates and within the time limits specified, and separate from the rest of the
schedule of flights they may submit for the operation of services on other routes, the schedule of
operations on routes subject to public service obligations, which shall cover a minimum period of
twelve consecutive months. This schedule shall include the following information:

(a) route on which the carrier wishes to operate;

(b) operating periods in the relevant

International Air Transport Association (IATA) scheduling

seasons;

(c)

flight identification number;

(d) timetables;

(e) available capacity;

(f) period and days on which the service is to be operated;

(g) type of aircraft/number of seats/cargo capacity;

(h) configuration of passenger compartment, where appropriate;

(i) written confirmation of knowledge and acceptance of
imposed as part of these public service obligations.

the continuity of service conditions

The carrier must also submit a document detailing the fares and associated conditions to be applied in
accordance with the specific conditions laid down in paragraph 2 of Section III.

3.

The following must be taken into account when submitting schedules:

3.1. By the dates and subject to the conditions specified below, each air carrier shall submit its schedule of

services, split according to the winter and summer scheduling seasons:

(a)

if the start of the service schedule coincides with the beginning of the summer scheduling season,
it shall be submitted before 1 March and shall include the provisional schedule for the following
winter scheduling season;

(b) if the start of the service schedule coincides with the beginning of the winter scheduling season, it
shall be submitted before 1 October and shall include the provisional schedule for the following
summer scheduling season.

(1) OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 8.

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3.2. In the case of access to the market at any other time of year, the carrier shall submit its service
schedule at least thirty calendar days before the planned date of commencement of its operations and
shall include the schedule of services for the part-period corresponding to the scheduling season in
which operations are to commence and the provisional schedule for the rest of the period so as to
cover a full twelve months' operation. Starting with the scheduling season following that in which
operations commenced, the carrier shall follow the procedure laid down in paragraph 3.1 above.

3.3. Service schedules shall be considered to have been approved if the Directorate-General for Civil
Aviation has not delivered an opinion on them within the time limits specified above. In all cases,
however, services may be commenced once they have been expressly approved by the Directorate-
General for Civil Aviation.

3.4. Air carriers shall undertake to operate their service schedule for a minimum period of twelve
consecutive months. If, on a specific route, there is a new entrant or an operator significantly
increases its schedule of flights, other carriers operating on that route may choose to maintain
their service schedule immediately without affecting compliance with the
their strategy, adjust
public service obligations, or,
to
continue to operate on the route(s) under open conditions beyond the mandatory period. Never-
theless, a carrier may definitively cease providing services if it notifies the Directorate-General for Civil
Aviation accordingly at least six months before the planned date of cessation.

they consider it appropriate, announce their intention not

if

4.

If, for all the operating carriers combined, load factors on a route in the summer or winter period
continuously exceed 75 %, save in the case of seasonal operation of routes, carriers which have an
operational service schedule must take the necessary steps to increase the capacity available so as to
reduce the percentage specified above, unless they offer more advantageous fares to users, such as
those specified at point (a) of paragraph 2, ‘Fares’, in Section III, ‘Specific Conditions’.

5.

For the purposes of this text, the terms below shall have the following meanings:

(a) air fare: the price expressed in euros which passengers must pay to air carriers or their agents for
transporting them and their baggage by air, and the conditions attached to that price, including
taxes, remuneration and commission paid to agencies and other auxiliary services;

(b) basic fare: the lowest fully flexible fare for a single or a return flight which is available to at least

the same extent as any other fully flexible fare available for the same air service.

1.

The specific conditions associated with the public service obligations for the routes specified in
Section I are as follows:

III. Specific conditions

1.1. On the Majorca–Ibiza and Majorca–Minorca routes the timetables shall be such as to guarantee
departures between 7.00 and 9.00 and return flights at the end of the day, subject to the limits
imposed by airport operating hours. At such times of day, service availability must if necessary be
strengthened by adapting aircraft capacity or service frequency to meet the demand for travel. Time-
tables must be such as to permit both legs of a return journey to be made on the same day with eight
hours' stay at the destination. In the case of cargo transport, carriers shall give priority to perishable
and urgently needed products such as daily newspapers and medicines, and to products of funda-
mental
importance to the economy of the islands of Minorca and Ibiza, such as jewellery and
footwear samples.

1.2. On the Minorca–Ibiza route the public service obligations may be met, in the absence of direct flights,
by connections via Majorca, on condition that such connections provide at least one daily link
between the two islands with a total flying time not exceeding two hours and permit both legs of
a return journey to be made on the same day with a minimum stay of six hours at the destination,
unless such obligations are met by flights operated by Community carriers from or to any
Community airport which call at one of the islands en route from or to the other island.

1.3. Air carriers shall endeavour, as far as possible, to coordinate their flights to and from Ibiza with the

timetables for scheduled maritime transport services between Ibiza and Formentera.

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1.4. Air carriers shall at all times adapt the average daily frequencies available to the meet the minimum

requirements set out in paragraph 1.5 below.

1.5. The frequencies and the minimum capacity made available by all carriers combined for each period of

operation shall be as follows:

(a) Between Majorca and Ibiza

In the winter season, the minimum frequency shall be four return journeys daily. In the summer
season, the minimum frequency shall be five return journeys daily.

The minimum capacity available in each direction shall be as follows:

— During the IATA winter season: 63 000 seats.

— During the IATA summer season: 107 000 seats.

(b) Between Majorca and Minorca:

In the winter season, the minimum frequency shall be four return journeys daily. In the summer
season, the minimum frequency shall be five return journeys daily.

The minimum capacity available in each direction shall be as follows:

— During the IATA winter scheduling season: 71 000 seats.

— During the IATA summer scheduling season: 110 000 seats.

(c) Between Minorca and Ibiza:

Services shall be provided in accordance with paragraph 1.2 of Section III, ‘Specific Conditions’.

2.

Fares

The maximum single fare for each of the routes shall be as follows:

(a) Majorca–Ibiza: EUR 72

(b) Majorca–Minorca: EUR 72

(c) Minorca–Ibiza: EUR 101

in January each year, at the
The Minister for Internal Development (Ministro de Fomento) shall,
request of carriers who operate on routes which are subject to public service obligations, adjust
the above fares by an amount to reflect the effects of applying the corresponding annual increase in
the national consumer price index (Índice General Nacional del Sistema de Índices de Precios al
Consumo) to the costs directly affected by any such annual fluctuation, which are estimated at
73 % of the total cost structure of an air carrier. With regard to all aviation taxes, comprising
landing charges, airport approach charges and charges for use of the air navigation aids network,
account shall be taken of the increases authorised for each of these charges for the year in question in
the Fiscal, Administrative and Social Order Measures Act (Ley de Medidas Fiscales, Administrativas y
del Orden Social), which shall be applied to the fares, with up to 4 % of the cost structure being
weighted by these increases for each of the above three charges. At all events, the adjustment to the
fares shall not affect the abovementioned levels of charges and fares, which shall be payable at the
amounts specified. Carriers operating these services shall be informed of the revised fares.

In the event of an increase in other cost components affecting the operation of these air services
which is abnormal, unforeseeable and not attributable to the carriers, and acting on a proposal from
the air carriers, the Minister for Internal Development may adjust the maximum fare in proportion to
that increase. The adjusted fare shall be notified to the carriers operating the services concerned and
shall apply within a period which is appropriate to the circumstances. It shall also be communicated
to the European Commission for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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Air carriers may set promotional and basic fares, provided that the price levels laid down above are
not exceeded, in accordance with the following:

(a) The 75 % occupancy rate laid down in paragraph 4 of Section II, ‘General Conditions’, may be
exceeded provided that the price of the fares applied to any such supplementary offer is at least
20 % less than the price of the basic fare registered by the carrier.

(b) Air carriers shall be required to set fares which are lower than their basic registered fares for
young persons under 22 years of age, persons aged 65 or over, teams based in the Autonomous
Community of the Balearic Islands and sick persons from the islands of Ibiza and Minorca
requiring hospital treatment on the island of Majorca. Carriers shall be free to determine the
relevant percentage and conditions applicable to such reductions. The discounts applied shall not
be less than 10 % of the basic registered fares. In order to benefit from these arrangements, sick
persons requiring medical assistance must obtain a certificate from the Balearic Health Service
(Sistema Balear de Salud) attesting to the need for transport. In urgent cases, duly certified as such
in the aforementioned certificate, the carrier shall be required to transport the person concerned
on the flight requested.

(c) Air carriers shall be required to register their fares with the Directorate-General for Civil Aviation
no later than 30 calendar days before the planned date of their entry into force. These fares shall
be considered to have been approved if the Directorate-General
for Civil Aviation has not
delivered an opinion on them within 15 calendar days. However, they may enter into force
before the time limit specified above if they have been expressly approved.

(d) With regard to fares for the scheduled air services on the routes specified in Section I, the
subsidised fare reductions laid down in the legislation in force shall apply, without restriction,
to citizens of Spain and of the other Member States of the European Union who are resident in
the Balearic Islands.

(e) The conditions for the accreditation of residents and payments made to air carriers in respect of
the rebates which have been granted must be in conformity with Royal Decree No 1316 of 30
November 2001 (Real Decreto 1316/2001) governing the granting of rebates in respect of fares
for scheduled air and maritime transport services for residents of the Autonomous Communities
of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands and the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

The maximum fares laid down in this section may be converted by the Minister for Internal Devel-
opment, subject to prior notification to the Joint Committee, into reference fares, with margins of
variation which shall be determined on the basis of the conditions of competition in the market
concerned.

3.

Continuity of service

Except in cases of force majeure, the number of flights cancelled for reasons directly attributable to the
carrier may not exceed, for each IATA scheduling season, 2 % of the scheduled flights. Except in cases
of force majeure, delays may not exceed 30 minutes for 90 % of the flights.

4. Marketing of flights

Seats and services shall be marketed via distribution channels which take account of the charac-
teristics of the services and the need to ensure appropriate information for users at the lowest possible
cost.