Friday 22 March 2019
On 31st January 2017, the Policy and Resources Committee wrote to the Committee for Economic Development requesting it to take responsibility for delivering a Public Service Obligation (PSO) for Alderney's air routes.
In July 2018, the States approved the Committee's updated Air Transport Licensing Policy Statement, which included plans to designate the Alderney-Guernsey and Alderney Southampton routes as PSO routes (Billet XIX, 2018).
This paved the way for the development of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) specification for Alderney's air services. The specification was developed in partnership with officers from other relevant Committees, and the States of Alderney, and was put to the market in an invitation to tender (ITT) on 11th October 2018.
The ITT was for two distinct PSOs, covering year-round, several times daily scheduled air passenger services on the Alderney-Guernsey and Alderney-Southampton routes. In addition, the Guernsey PSO also requires the provision of a medevac charter transfer service, as well as the transport of post and medicines.
In December 2018, the Committee was pleased to receive four bids for the ITT. However, after careful consideration of the bids and follow up exchanges with bidders as appropriate, while all bids had their merits, none of the bidders has convincingly demonstrated that it is able to fully deliver sustainable PSO services to the required standard and in the required timeframe.
As a result, the Committee cannot appoint a preferred bidder and has closed this tender process. The Committee will now work on an alternative specification that will seek to attract responses that can better meet the air connectivity needs of Alderney.
The Committee will continue to work closely with colleagues from the States of Alderney and other Committees as it develops this alternative specification - including the Committee for Health and Social Care, the Committee for Employment and Social Security and the States Trading Supervisory Board.
The Committee will aim to share a new specification with the market at the earliest opportunity and before the end of Q2 2019, with a view to implementing the right PSO solution as soon as possible next year.
The Committee is grateful for the responses received, wishes to thank bidders for the time and effort which they have put in to responding to this ITT, and hopes that they will engage with the next ITT when it is published.
