Tender Management Relating to Imposition of Public Service Obligations on Scheduled Air Routes: An Approach Involving Digital Transformation of Procurement Procedures in Spain

The promotion of efficient and sustainable means of transport has been a key issue of public debate across the European Union (EU). Particularly, transport needs in peripheral and remote areas have a great importance for EU transport policies in order to ensure the mobility of goods and persons in these regions, and thus to achieve greater territorial cohesion in the member states concerned. Despite the remarkable efforts to improve the competitiveness of aviation in the EU single market, certain regional routes have traditionally suffered a lack of scheduled air routes. The internal market, once liberalized, has provided an instrument in order to ensure adequate transportation for the carriage of goods and persons in special cases. When this occurs, according to Regulation (CE) no. 1008/2008, national civil aviation authorities may impose a public service obligation (PSO) on specific air routes. In addition, this form of public intervention can lead to restriction on market access to one carrier, and even to the payment of compensation to the awarded airline through the launching of a tendering procedure for the operation of the required air service. In the case of Spain, this type of administrative concession has been shifting towards e-procurement processes by providing transparent electronic portals. This research aims, precisely, at encouraging a better understanding of how information technology may have systemic benefits to public bodies aiming to efficiently conduct a digital procurement ecosystem. To do this, the authors have analyzed the 23 PSO routes imposed so far, and the corresponding administrative procedures. The findings suggest that e-procurement has led to greater public transparency.