NO-Oslo: operation of scheduled air services — Invitation to tender published by Norway pursuant to Article 4.1(d) of the act referred to in point 64a in Annex XIII of the EEA Agreement (Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes) for operation of scheduled air services on the route Værøy (heliport) – Bodø v.v.
Date: 2004-11-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Norway, air transport, intra-EU transport, invitation to tender, market access, public service

C 268/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.11.2004

NO-Oslo: operation of scheduled air services

Invitation to tender published by Norway pursuant to Article 4.1(d) of the act referred to in point
64a in Annex XIII of the EEA Agreement (Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992
on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes) for operation of scheduled
air services on the route Værøy (heliport) – Bodø v.v.

(2004/C 268/06)

air

Community
routes

1. Introduction: Pursuant to Article 4.1(a) of Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access
for
intra-Community
carriers
to
air
(http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/1992/
en_392R2408.html), Norway has decided to impose new
public service obligations on regional air services Værøy –
Bodø v.v. as of 1 August 2005, as published 4.11.2004 in
Official Journal of the European Union No C 268 and the
EEA Supplement No 54.

Insofar as by two months from the latest day of submis-
sion of tenders, see section 12 of this publication, no air
carrier has provided documentary evidence to the Ministry
of Transport and Communications of commencing sched-
uled flights on 1 August 2005 in conformity with the
public service obligations imposed on the route Værøy –
Bodø v.v., without demanding financial compensation or
market protection, Norway will apply the tender procedure
the same regulation,
provided for by Article 4.1(d) of
thereby limiting access as of 1 August 2005 to only one
air carrier for the route.

2. Objective of the invitation to tender: To provide, with
effect from 1 August 2005, scheduled air services on the
route Værøy – Bodø v.v. in accordance with the imposed
public service obligations, as published 4.11.2004.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications reserves
the right to amend the public service requirement as a
result of altered conditions of airport approvals. If such
changes occur, the Ministry may call for a new public
tender on the specific route-area.

3. Eligibility to tender: All air carriers holding a valid oper-
to Council Regulation (EEC)
ating licence pursuant
No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air carriers
are eligible to tender (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/
1992/en_392R2407.html).

4. Tender procedure: This invitation to tender is subject to
the provisions of subparagraphs (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i)
of Article 4.1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92.

Overdue tenders and tenders not in conformity with the
invitation to tender will be rejected [Reject = the tender is
dismissed without further investigation. Reference is made
to §§ 9, 11 and 12 of the Norwegian Regulation of 15
April 1994 on tender procedures in connection with
public service obligations to implement Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2408/92 Article 4.

Section 9: Details regarding overdue tenders

Tenders arriving after the closing date for submission of
tenders, see section 6, shall be rejected as overdue and be
returned.

However, this does not apply to tenders which arrive after
the closing date but before the opening of the tenders
provided it is clear from the postmark that, given normal
postal service schedules,
the tender was mailed early
enough for it to have arrived before the deadline, or the
tenderer in question has proven this by a receipt from
Norway Post before the opening of the tenders.

The rejection decision, including the grounds for it shall be
entered in the register of tenders.

It is a prerequisite that the tendering operators carefully
study the special conditions related to the relevant airports;
hereunder
the required adherence to restrictions and
limitations valid on the date of submitting the tender,
which are imposed on the airspace by military activities;
ref. Regulation No 44 of 16 January 2003 on the Flexible
Use of Airspace. The location and extent of the training
areas and their activation periods are promulgated in AIP
Norway, ENR 5.2 and ENR 6.5. Further information on
the Letter of Agreement between the Royal Norwegian Air
Force and Avinor related to the above mentioned regu-
lation is available from Avinor, Wergelandsveien 1, PO
Box 8124 Dep, N-0032 Oslo.

Section 11: Rejection

1. A tender shall be rejected if: the tender as it appears at
the final date fails to fulfil the requirements for partici-
pation in the competition, cf. section 3.

2. A tender may after closer assessment be rejected if:

a) the tender does not contain all

the information

prescribed in the invitation to tender;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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b) the tender fails to state the compensation required
as prescribed in the invitation to tender, cf. section
8, litera h);

c) the tenderer is unable to start up within the time-
limit prescribed in the invitation to tender, cf.
section 8, litera p);

d) the tender requires compensation that is unreason-
able in relation to the service to be provided and the
tenderer is unable to provide a satisfactory reason
for this.

The register of
tenders shall make clear which
tenders are rejected and the reason for rejection, cf.
section 10, litera f).

Section 12: Criteria for exclusion of tenderers

1. Principals may when selecting a tenderer and when

awarding a contract exclude any tenderer who:

a) is bankrupt, is engaged in debt settlement proceed-
ings or is being wound up, who has halted his busi-
ness activities or who is in any analogous situation
to
arising from a
national laws or regulations;

similar procedure pursuant

b) is the subject of proceeding for a declaration of
bankruptcy, for debt settlement, for an order for
compulsory winding up or is the subject of any
other similar proceedings pursuant to national laws
or regulations;

c) has been convicted by final judgement of an offence

concerning his professional conduct;

d) has been guilty of grave breaches of professional
and ethical standards in his line of business, which
have been proven by any means which the principal
approves;

judicial or administrative authority in the tenderer's
home State or State where he is currently present
showing that none of these cases applies to the
tenderer;

b) for e) or f), a certificate issued by the competent

authority in the State concerned].

The Ministry of Transport
and Communications
reserves the right to apply subsequent negotiations if all
tenders submitted are incorrect [cf. section 11 of regu-
lation on tender procedures in connection with public
service obligations to implement Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2408/92 of 15 April 1994 No 256 (cf. foot-
note No 1 above)], unacceptable [cf. chapter III section
5] or is unsuitable. Such negotiations shall be in accord-
ance with the public service obligations imposed and
without making substantial changes in the original
tender conditions [cf. section 4 No 2 of the Norwegian
Regulation of 15 April 1994 on tender procedures in
connection with public service obligations to imple-
ment Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, Article 4].

If the subsequent negotiations do not lead to an accep-
table solution [cf. section 11 of the Norwegian Regu-
lation of 15 April 1994 on tender procedures in
connection with public service obligations to imple-
ment Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 Article 4
and the invitation to tender chapter III No 5],
the
Ministry of Transport and Communications reserves the
right to cancel the entire tender procedure. In that case
a new invitation to tender on new terms may be
published.

In case reasonable grounds appear as a result of the
tender, the Ministry of Transport and Communications
reserves the right
to refuse [Refuse = the tender is
closed after the tender (and its contents) is evaluated]
each and all tenders.

The tender is binding on the tenderer until the award is
made.

e) has not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment
of taxes and levies in accordance with national laws
of
the State in which he is established, or of
Norway;

5. Award

f) is guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying
the information required under sections 8 and 13.

2. Where the principal requires tenderer proof that none
of the cases mentioned in a), b), c), e) or f) of subsection
1 applies to him, the principal may accept as sufficient
evidence:

a) for a), b) or c), an extract from the National Register
of Convictions or the National Register of Insolven-
cies. Failing this, an equivalent document issued by a

5.1 As the principal rule, see also section 5.2 of this publi-
cation,
the award shall be made to the tender
requiring the lowest amount of compensation for the
period 1 August 2005 – 31 July 2008.

5.2 In case the award cannot be made subject to the
provisions of 5.1 because there are tenders requiring
identical amounts of compensation, the award shall be
made to the tender offering the highest number of
seats the period 1 August 2005 – 31 July 2008.

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6. Tender

full

file: The

invitation to tender,
file for
containing the impositions of public service obligations,
the specific rules to the invitation to tender (Norwegian
Regulation on tender procedures in connection with public
service obligations to implement Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2408/92, Article 4), the standard contract and tender
budget, may be obtained free of charge from the principal:

Ministry of Transport and Communications, PO Box 8010
Dep, N-0030 Oslo. Tel.: + 47 22 24 8 3 53. Fax: + 47 22
24 56 09.

The documentation is also available on the Internet:

http://www.odin.dep.no/sd/engelsk/aktuelt/tenders/index-b-
n-a.html.

7. Financial compensation: The tenders submitted shall be
in accordance with the tender budget
included in the
tender dossier and explicitly mention the compensation in
Norwegian kroner (NOK) required for operation of the
service in question during the contract period 1 August
2005 – 31 July 2008. The tenders shall be based on the
price level for the first operating year, i.e. 1 August 2005
– 31 July 2006.

The exact amount of compensation granted for the 2nd
and 3rd operating year shall be based on an operating
revenue and operating cost adjustment of
the tender
budget. These adjustments shall be within the limits of the
consumer price index for the 12-month period ending 15
February the same year, as made public by Statistics
Norway http://www.ssb.no/english/.

The operator shall retain all revenue generated by the
service and is fully responsible for the expenses, however,
re-negotiation in accordance with the standard contract
may apply in case of substantial and unforeseeable changes
in the assumptions underlying it.

8. Fares and timetables: The tenders submitted shall specify
the fares and the conditions thereto. The fares shall be in
accordance with the public service obligations published
4.11.2004.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications reserves
the right to alter the Ministry's circular N-8/97 on proce-
dures in connection with traffic programmes and fares for
scheduled air services in Norway.

9. Duration, amendment and termination of the contract:
The contract shall start on 1 August 2005 and end 31 July
2008.

A review of the implementation of the contract shall be
carried out in concert with the carrier during the six weeks
following the end of the contract period.

The contract may not be modified unless the changes are
in accordance with the public service obligations. Any

modification of the contract shall be recorded in an annex
thereto.

10. Breach of contract/cancellation: In the event of substan-
it may be cancelled with

the contract,

tial breach of
immediate effect by the other party.

Subject to the restrictions following insolvency law, the
Ministry of Transport and Communications may cancel the
contract with immediate effect if the operator becomes
insolvent,
initiates debt settlement proceedings or goes
bankrupt. Equally the Ministry of Transport and Communi-
cations may cancel the contract in the other cases dealt
with in section 12 of Regulation on tender procedures in
connection with public
service obligation, which is
included in the tender file (http://www.lovdata.no/for/sf/sd/
sd-19940415-0256.html).

If the operator owing to force majeure or other factors
outside his control has been unable to comply with the
public service obligations as stated in the contract
for
more than four of the past six months, the contract may
be cancelled at one month's written notice.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications may
cancel the contract with immediate effect if the operator
has his licence revoked or it is not renewed.

Notwithstanding any action for damages,
the financial
compensation shall be reduced in proportion to the total
number of flights cancelled for reasons directly attributable
to the carrier, if the number of flights cancelled for such
reasons during an operating year exceeds 1,5 % of the
planned number of flights.

11. Airline codes: The flights cannot carry any other airline
codes than the tenderer's own and cannot be part of any
code-sharing agreement.

12. Submission of tenders: Tenders must be sent by regis-
tered post with acknowledgement of receipt, in which case
the postmark will be accepted as a proof of submission, or
delivered by hand in return for a receipt, to:

Ministry of Transport and Communications,
Akersgata 59 (visiting address),
PO Box 8010 Dep, N-0030 Oslo,

not later than 6.12.2004, at 15.00 local time.

All tenders must be submitted in three (3) copies.

13. Validity of the invitation to tender: This invitation to
tender shall be valid only to the extent that no EEA air
carrier by two months from the latest day of submission of
tenders, see section 12 of this publication, has provided
documentary evidence to the Ministry of Transport and
Communications of commencing scheduled air services on
1 August 2005 in accordance with the public service obli-
gations imposed on the route Værøy – Bodø v.v., without
demanding financial compensation or market protection.