Commission notice pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 — Amendment of public service obligations imposed on certain scheduled air services within Portugal   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2005-12-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Portugal, air transport, airline, carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, public service, transportation tariff

1.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 304/15

Commission notice pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92

Amendment of public service obligations imposed on certain scheduled air services within
Portugal

(2005/C 304/06)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1. Pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92
of 23 July 1992 the Portuguese Government has decided to
amend, commencing on 1 January 2006, the public service
obligations imposed on scheduled air services operated on
the following routes:

— Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon

— Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon

— Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon

— Funchal/Ponta Delgada/Funchal

— Porto/Ponta Delgada/Porto

— Lisbon/Santa Maria/Lisbon

— Lisbon/Pico/Lisbon

2. The public service obligations are as follows:

Capacity and continuity of service:

the overall capacity of

On each route,
scheduled air
passenger and cargo transport offered by all carriers
combined must be at least equivalent to the capacity speci-
fied in Annex I.

The planned services must be guaranteed throughout each
calendar year at least and, except in the following circum-
stances, may be suspended only with six months' notice.

Reductions in capacity are subject to prior authorisation by
the Portuguese Civil Aviation Institute, and may not be
applied for six months if the overall capacity offered thereby
falls below the threshold specified in the first paragraph of
this point; the Portuguese Civil Aviation Institute must reply
to the operator within 30 days following the notification.

Except in cases of force majeure, the number of flights
cancelled for reasons directly attributable to the carrier must
not exceed 2 % of the number of flights scheduled for the
relevant season; ‘cancellation’ means that a flight scheduled
to take place and on which at least one seat was booked
fails to take place.

In the event of temporary interruption of the air services
due to unforeseen circumstances, cases of force majeure or
other reasons, the programmed capacity must be increased
by at least 60 % from the moment when services can be
resumed until all the traffic backlog accumulated during the
interruption in services has been cleared.

Punctuality:

Except in cases of force majeure, delays of more than 15
minutes directly attributable to the carrier may not affect
more than 15 % of flights.

Type of aircraft used and operating conditions:

Services must be operated using duly certified jet-propelled
aircraft with a seating capacity of at least 90; for services to
and from Horta and Pico airports carriers must observe the
conditions published in Aeronautical
Information of
Portugal (AIP).

Minimum frequency:

— On the Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon route, at least one
return trip a day, between 08.00 and 21.00, throughout
the year; one trip a week may be combined with the
Lisbon/Santa Maria/ Lisbon route;

— On the Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon route, at least four return
trips a week, on different days, between 08.00 and
21.00, throughout the year; one trip a week may be
combined with the Lisbon/ Pico/Lisbon route;

— On the Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon route, at least three return
trips a week, between 08.00 and 21.00, throughout the
year, on non-consecutive days;

— On the Funchal/Ponta Delgada/Funchal route, at least

one return trip a week, throughout the year;

— On the Oporto/Ponta Delgada/Oporto route, at least two
return trips a week, throughout the year, which may be
combined with Lisbon, from October to June inclusive;

— On the Lisbon/Santa Maria/Lisbon route, at least one
return trip a week, which may be combined with the
Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon route;

— On the Lisbon/Pico/Lisbon route, at least one return trip
a week, throughout the year, which may be combined
with the Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon route.

Where the flight schedules submitted by the carrier(s)
provide for more than one service a day, flights must be
operated between 06.30 local time at the place of departure
and 00.30 local time at the destination; there must be at
least one service a day between 08.00 and 21.00 and, at
least three days a week, one of the services must be operated
before 14.00.

C 304/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

1.12.2005

Carriers are not precluded from operating other flights
outside the timetables fixed above, provided they comply
with the minimum frequencies and capacities laid down in
the Commission notice. This option is subject to the oper-
ating restrictions laid down by law for national airports.

if

On the Funchal/Ponta Delgada/Funchal, Lisbon/Santa Maria/
Lisbon and Lisbon/Pico/Lisbon routes,
the schedules
submitted by the carrier(s) provide for more than one
service a week, these must be operated on different days.
On the Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon, Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon and
services must be
Oporto/Ponta Delgada/Oporto routes
spread evenly throughout the week. If the total number of
services offered per week on any given route by all opera-
tors combined is more than 6 (six), there must be at least
one service a day.

Fares:

1. The fare structure must include:

(a) A fully flexible economy fare, a range of fares with
levels and conditions tailored to different demand
segments (tourist, business, general cargo and specific
products, etc.);

(b) A return PEX fare of EUR 221 on flights between the
Azores and mainland Portugal, and a return PEX fare
of EUR 162 on flights between the Azores and
Funchal;

for at

(c) Persons who have been resident

least six
months in the Autonomous Region of the Azores on
islands with a direct service to mainland Portugal or
to Funchal and residents of the Autonomous Region
of Madeira will be entitled to a reduction of 33 % off
the fully flexible economy class public fare;

(d) Students aged 26 or under whose home or educa-
tional establishment is located in the Autonomous
Region of the Azores and who, respectively, attend
educational establishments or
live elsewhere on
national territory will be entitled to a reduction of
40 % off the fully flexible economy class public fare;

(e) On days when there is no direct service between
Funchal/Ponta Delgada/Funchal, students aged 26 or
under travelling to or from the Autonomous Region
of the Azores may travel via Lisbon provided they
use the same carrier on all sections of the journey.
The flight schedule chosen must not allow a stopover
in Lisbon;

(f) The maximum cargo tariffs are set out in Annex II.

Each carrier must have the same fare structure for all the
routes specified in point 1, whether the place of depar-

ture or destination is Lisbon or Oporto, and apply it
without discrimination; however, promotions may be
offered from time to time for point-to-point flights.

The fares must be displayed to the public, both at the
points of sale and at the check-in counters.

2. Residents and students will be charged the following net
amounts, after deduction of the discounts specified in
point 1(c) and (d) above:

(a) EUR 184: for residents of the Autonomous Region
of the Azores, for return trips to mainland Portugal;

(b) EUR 160: for residents of the Autonomous Region
the Azores and the Autonomous Region of
for return trips between the Azores and

of
Madeira,
Funchal;

(c) EUR 143: for students, for return trips between the
Azores
for
students, for return trips between the Azores and
Funchal.

and mainland Portugal; EUR 101:

The fares and tariffs specified in point 1(b) and (f) and in
point 2(a), (b) and (c) will be revised annually on 1 April,
beginning in 2006, on the basis of the inflation rate for
the previous year published in the Grandes Opções do
Plano [Major Planning Options] and notified, by 28
February 2005, by INAC (the Portuguese Civil Aviation
Institute) to the carriers operating the routes in question.

Carriers may levy a charge to offset the additional cost
entailed by fuel price increases (AC), to be reviewed quar-
terly, by applying the following formula, rounded to the
nearest unit:

AC = K × (B – 50,00)

Where

AC Additional cost of fuel OW

K

0,684862 × average USD/EUR exchange rate for the
preceding quarter

B

average barrel price in USD in the preceding quarter

Carriers may also levy a charge of at most EUR 16 and
EUR 4,
issuing
in respect of reservation and ticket
services, through their direct sales outlets and the call
centre, respectively.

3. The State will, under terms to be established by law,
subsidise the journeys of residents and students, provided
the criteria and fares specified in points 1 and 2 are
applied. In 2006 the subsidy will be EUR 87 per return
trip.

1.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 304/17

Passenger fares and freight tariffs from or to any airport
in the Autonomous Region of the Azores without a
regular direct link to mainland Portugal or Funchal must
be identical to those referred to above; passenger routes
between mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region
of the Azores and between the Autonomous Regions
must be limited to two flight coupons, i.e. one in each
direction, and passenger routes within the Autonomous
Region of the Azores must be limited to:

— two flight coupons for non-residents;

Cargo and postal service

including
This must enable at least two tonnes of cargo,
mail, to be carried on each flight; the capacity offered by
the carrier must be spread evenly throughout the week,
with the following minimum requirements:

— 30 tonnes per day on the Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon

route;

— 25 tonnes on days when the minimum service required

is operated on the Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon route.

— three flight coupons for residents and students;

2 tonnes of cargo and mail per return journey must be
carried on the Lisboa/Pico/Lisboa route every week.

— for Corvo, one additional

flight coupon will be

allowed on days when there is no service.

The cargo and mail capacity on each flight will be deter-
mined by applying the following formula:

On days when an island has no direct service to main-
land Portugal or to Funchal, residents and students may
be routed via another gateway.

where

C = W – (0,75 × S × 97)

In addition to the abovementioned subsidy, the State will
also pay the cost of transport for passengers in respect of
journeys to or from islands with no direct service with
mainland Portugal or Funchal. The fares approved by the
for services within the
Azores Regional Government
Autonomous Region must be taken into account when
calculating the cost of transport.

C

is the cargo and mail capacity,
flight;

in kg, offered on a

W is the total weight, in kg, of the passengers, baggage,
cargo and mail which can be transported on an
(allowed traffic load),
aircraft
obtained by subtracting the operating weight (aircraft,
crew, fuel, catering and other operating items) from
the maximum certified take-off weight;

in a given sector

A no-show penalty may be set, not exceeding 10 % of
the relevant economy class reference fare.

S

is the number of seats on the aircraft;

These public service obligations will apply without preju-
dice to the conclusion of interline agreements with other
carriers on fares for services from or to places other than
Lisbon, Oporto and Funchal.

0,75 is the coefficient adopted for a load factor of 75 %

97

is the standard passenger and baggage weight of an
adult passenger and his/her baggage (84 kg +13 kg)
as specified in JAR-OPS 1.620.

Carriers may combine air services and use the same
flight numbers, provided this has been authorised by the
Portuguese Civil Aviation Institute.

3. Given the special importance of the routes in question, and
the exceptional nature of the service continuity require-
ments, Community carriers are hereby informed of
the
following conditions:

Flight marketing:

Flights must be marketed using a computerised reservation
system.

Transfer conditions:

Where the routes in question are operated by different
carriers, the latter must make agreements between them-
selves to allow residents and students travelling to or from
any airport in the Autonomous Region of the Azores to use
different carriers for different sections of their journey.

— Carriers wishing to operate all the routes in question
must, within thirty days following publication of this
notice, submit flight schedules for those routes for a
year, in accordance with the requisite obligations;

— Flight schedules not covering all the routes specified in
point 1 will not be accepted, unless they are offers
under code-share schemes, in which case fulfilment of
regarding minimum
the public
frequency will be assessed with reference to all
the
flights offered on the shared flight schedule. In this case,
the following requirements must be met:

service obligations

(a) Carriers offering a flight schedule for one or more
routes under a code-share scheme will be responsible
for implementing the schedule;

C 304/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

1.12.2005

(b) Carriers which sign a code-share agreement must
expressly state that they are collectively responsible
for fulfilling the public service obligations and liable
for the consequences of failing to fulfil these obliga-
tions, including administrative fines;

(c) Where services are operated under a code-share
scheme, carriers must tell passengers which carrier
will actually be operating each section of the journey
when tickets are reserved, issued or sold and at the
check-in desk at the airport;

— Within thirty days after receiving the flight schedules
and having consulted the carriers, the Portuguese Civil
Aviation Institute must notify carriers of its final deci-
sion on the schedules submitted;

— Where a carrier announces that it intends to withdraw
from or change its proposed flight schedule, the Portu-
guese Civil Aviation Institute must notify this fact to the
other carriers, who may reformulate their flight sche-
dules within the next 15 days;

— All carriers holding a valid operating licence issued by a
Member State in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No
2407/92 on licensing of air carriers, and an appropriate
air operator's certificate may operate these services;

— All carriers holding a valid operating licence and an
appropriate air operator's certificate, as specified in the
preceding paragraph, and which in addition meet the
following requirements may operate these services:

(a) They have paid all taxes owed to the Portuguese

State;

(b) They have paid all their social security contributions
in the State of which they are

in Portugal or
nationals or in which they are established;

— Given the special nature of these services, carriers will
have to demonstrate that the majority of the cabin crew
on the flights in question can speak and understand
Portuguese;

— Carriers will be allowed, in accordance with the applic-
able legislation and regulations, to subcontract to other
carriers any additional capacity needed to meet
the
requirements of the flight schedule, but they remain
responsible for complying with their obligations and
implementing the schedule;

— Carriers must submit to the Portuguese Civil Aviation
Institute, within the set time limits and separately from

any flight schedules for other services, the flight schedule
for each service subject to these amended public service
obligations, giving the following information:

(a) the route in question;

(b) IATA seasons;

(c) flight identification number;

(d) timetables;

(e) capacity offered (per month, either

in terms of

frequency or in terms of seats);

(f) period and days on which the service is to be oper-

ated;

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

(h) passenger cabin layout;

(i) written confirmation of knowledge and acceptance
of the continuity of service conditions imposed by
the amended public service obligations;

(j) current or future insurance policies.

Carriers must also provide written details of the prices
and associated conditions to be applied.

In addition they must submit a summary economic and
financial plan. This must, however, contain a detailed
estimate of their operating costs, for the purpose of
calculating the operating guarantee,
in the form of a
bank guarantee.

— Interruption of

the services in question without

the
advance notice provided for in the public service obliga-
tions set out above or failure to comply with those obli-
gations will result in an administrative fine;

— If, 60 days after the publication of this notice, the flight
schedules submitted do not correspond, as a whole, to a
volume of scheduled air transport that is at least equiva-
lent to the capacity specified in Annex I, or if, at any
time, the total supply falls to levels below the abovemen-
tioned capacity threshold without this being justified by
decreased demand, the Portuguese Government reserves
the right to impose new public service obligations, in
accordance with the law;

— Community carriers are hereby informed that

the
National Institute of Civil Aviation will monitor compli-
ance with these public service obligations.

1.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 304/19

ANNEX I

Minimum overall seating capacity

ROUTE

Summer IATA

Winter IATA

Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon

Lisbon/Santa Maria/Lisbon

Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon

Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon

Lisbon/Pico/Lisbon

Porto/Ponta Delgada/Porto

P.Delgada/Funchal/ P.Delgada

240 000

8 100

140 000

60 000

8 100

55 000

17 000

111 900

5 500

64 600

28 000

5 500

22 500

5 600

Minimum overall cargo capacity (tonnes)

ROUTE

Summer IATA

Winter IATA

Additional capacity
in high season

Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon

Lisbon/Santa Maria/Lisbon

Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon

Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon

Lisbon/Pico/Lisbon

Porto/Ponta Delgada/Porto

P.Delgada/Funchal/ P.Delgada

14 000

7 500

8 000

1 000

30

4 400

500

20

40

C 304/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

1.12.2005

ANNEX II

Maximum cargo tariffs (EUR)

Lisbon and Oporto/Azores

Funchal/Azores

8,44 EUR

1,01 EUR/Kg

0,90 EUR/Kg

0,63 EUR/Kg

0,80 EUR/Kg

0,73 EUR/Kg

8,44 EUR

0,82 EUR/Kg

0,62 EUR/Kg

0,53 EUR/Kg

0,58 EUR/Kg

Minimum

Normal

Quantity

Perishables/quantity

Special products

Special products/quantity