AEGEAN AIRLINES S.A.
Announcement regarding the Public Service Obligation Routes
AEGEAN, the largest Greek carrier, participated in the tender that was concluded on November 13, 2009 and submitted offers to service 16 Public Service Obligation routes over a transitional 4-month period.
The completion of the tender, following two successive cancellations (November 2008 and September 2009) even for a transitional 4-month period is considered a positive step forward. However, further improvements could be achieved. One thing is for certain though: Regardless of the transitional or final carriers that would service the routes, the cost for the state is now a small fraction of the euro 35m annual subsidy that for many years the state-owned Olympic used to receive. This is an important benefit, especially during current challenging times for the state budget and our economy.
Regardless of the fact that Aegean was a minimum bidder in many of these routes, its offer was rejected on a trivial excuse which we consider to be a mistake of the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority competition committee. Aegean has urgently and formally requested a meeting with the competition committee to receive explanations of the rejection, a request that was however not satisfied. As a result, we would unfortunately not be able to service public service obligation routes during the transitional period, despite our efforts and our investment in leasing 2 aircraft (manufactured in 2008).
Aegean, on its efforts to cover the Public Service Obligation routes, follows the same policy of focusing on quality services which have contributed to its wide acceptance from the Greek public. Since the summer of 2009, AEGEAN has made an important preparation with test flights and has discussed the needs of each market with local authorities. AEGEAN, not only offered competitive bids but it also offered significantly higher seat capacity than the minimum required as well as a wide range of fares for the consumers, even lower than the maximum required fares set by the tender requirements. Our aim is to contribute to the development of traffic and local economies the same way we contribute for more than 10 years now in most of the regions of our country.
Aegean's interest on servicing Public Service Obligation routes remains intact so as its participation to the forthcoming tender in the beginning of the year (that would grant PSO routes over a 2-year period April 2010 - March 2012).
The completion of the tender, following two successive cancellations (November 2008 and September 2009) even for a transitional 4-month period is considered a positive step forward. However, further improvements could be achieved. One thing is for certain though: Regardless of the transitional or final carriers that would service the routes, the cost for the state is now a small fraction of the euro 35m annual subsidy that for many years the state-owned Olympic used to receive. This is an important benefit, especially during current challenging times for the state budget and our economy.
Regardless of the fact that Aegean was a minimum bidder in many of these routes, its offer was rejected on a trivial excuse which we consider to be a mistake of the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority competition committee. Aegean has urgently and formally requested a meeting with the competition committee to receive explanations of the rejection, a request that was however not satisfied. As a result, we would unfortunately not be able to service public service obligation routes during the transitional period, despite our efforts and our investment in leasing 2 aircraft (manufactured in 2008).
Aegean, on its efforts to cover the Public Service Obligation routes, follows the same policy of focusing on quality services which have contributed to its wide acceptance from the Greek public. Since the summer of 2009, AEGEAN has made an important preparation with test flights and has discussed the needs of each market with local authorities. AEGEAN, not only offered competitive bids but it also offered significantly higher seat capacity than the minimum required as well as a wide range of fares for the consumers, even lower than the maximum required fares set by the tender requirements. Our aim is to contribute to the development of traffic and local economies the same way we contribute for more than 10 years now in most of the regions of our country.
Aegean's interest on servicing Public Service Obligation routes remains intact so as its participation to the forthcoming tender in the beginning of the year (that would grant PSO routes over a 2-year period April 2010 - March 2012).