HOW TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROUTES 167 The European Commission publishes the list of subsidizsd routes in the EU61. A PSO can only be imposed if it is necessary to provide on that route a minimum offer of scheduled air services meeting fixed standards of continuity, regularity, price or minimum capacity, which the airline would not satisfy if it were to consider only its commercial interest. The subsidies are thus meant to compensate the deficit of the airline that results from the PSOs. In this context, the Member State can also include the requirement “that any Community air carrier intending to operate the route gives a guarantee that it will operate the route for a certain period, to be specified, in accordance with the other terms of the public service obligation”, but only if “other modes of transport cannot ensure an uninterrupted service with at least two daily frequencies”. The Air Services Regulation rules the use of the PSO system by subjecting its necessity to strict evaluation criteria. The necessity and the appropriateness of a PSO must be analysed by the Member State considering: – the proportionality between the envisaged obligation and the economic development needs of the region concerned; – the possibility of having recourse to other modes of transport and the ability of such modes to meet the transport needs under consideration, in particular when existing rail services serve the envisaged route with a travel time of fewer than three hours and with sufficient frequencies, connections and suitable timings; – the airfares and conditions which can be quoted to users; and –– the combined effect of all air carriers operating or intending to operate on the route. When a Member State wishes to impose a PSO, it shall communicate the text of the envisaged imposition to the Commission, to the other Member States concerned, to the airports concerned and to the air carriers operating the route in question. The Commission shall publish an information notice in the Official Journal of the EU: – identifying the two airports connected by the route concerned and possible intermediate stop-over point(s); – mentioning the date of entry into force of the PSO; and 61 The list can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/pso_inventory_table.pdf.
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