Slovenia launches airline subsidy tender
NEWS FLASH
The Slovenian government has issued a public call for airlines to apply for financial assistance for the introduction of new routes from the country to select destinations, which include Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Madrid, Prague, Vienna and Skopje. If any additional funds are left over, the government will launch a second tender over the summer to subsidise a second set of routes, including Barcelona, Lisbon, Oslo, Paris Orly, Pristina, Rome Fiumicino and Stockholm Arlanda. A total of 16.8 million euros have been set aside in subsidies over a three-year period. The state will cover 50% of the value of airport charges related to an individual route. Based on the tender rules, an airline will be unable to receive subsidies from Ljubljana to Athens and Helsinki, as both will be served this summer season from the Slovenian capital. The tender rules state, “Aid cannot be granted for the operation of an air route which, at the date of application is not yet in operation, but the intention to operate the route has been published in the reservation system, for a period when tickets for the route are already available for purchase”. The tender was launched yesterday with the application deadline set for May 4. The opening of the received applications will not be public and will be carried out by the Aid Granting Commission within fifteen days of the expiry of the deadline for the submission of bids.
The winning bid(s) will be determined by the Commission based on the number of additional passengers the route will generate, as well as the flight schedule, whereby an airline will be awarded additional points if its flights depart from Slovenia in the morning and if its weekly services are not all scheduled to depart at the same time. Bids will also receive further points if the airline in question offers connections from the origin/destination airport outside of Slovenia. The commission will also grade bids higher if lower air fares are proposed on the route, as well as the carrier's record on environmental sustainability.
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