newstodate.aero
May 24, 2019 (newstodate): A tender for a PSO contract concerning air services connecting the island of Saaremaa, Estonia, to Tallinn Airport has developed into an intriguing puzzle.
The service was earlier provided by Transaviabaltika with a Jetstream 32 aircraft with 19 seats, but the new PSO contract envisages a larger aircraft offering at least 50 seats.
Poised to win the tender was therefore Nordica that will be serving the route with an ATR 72 aircraft offering 72 seats.
This comes, however, at a higher price that envisaged in the tender conditions.
According to the conditions of the public procurement, a tenderer's liabilities could not exceed the value of its assets, and calculations thus meant that Nordica would face a deficit of euro 2.4 million.
Transaviabaltika was therefore declared winner of the tender.
But Nordica appealed the decision to the Public Procurement Review Committee - and won the case and the PSO contract.
The process, however, does not stop there: the Estonian Road Administration is now mulling plans for annulling the tender, to open a new one with other specifications, maybe in the form of a reduction in the requirement on seats.
Which may open a new opportunity for a third carrier, NyxAir that can offer services with a 33-seat SAAB 340 aircraft..