sustainability Article Tender Management Relating to Imposition of Public Service Obligations on Scheduled Air Routes: An Approach Involving Digital Transformation of Procurement Procedures in Spain Antonio Martínez Raya * and Víctor M. González-Sánchez Department of Applied Economics, Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, UNED—National University of Distance Education, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +34-91-3987829 Received: 31 May 2020; Accepted: 25 June 2020; Published: 1 July 2020 Abstract: 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.