Title: Sustainable and efficient transportation in special territories of the European Union through public service obligations: the case of scheduled air services serving the Spanish city of Melilla

Authors: Antonio Martínez Raya

Addresses: Department of Applied Economics, Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, National University of Distance Education (UNED), Madrid, Spain

Abstract: This research aims to assess the efficient use of any public support in ensuring adequate regular passenger transport services serving the city of Melilla, Spain, with mainland Europe. Considering air transportation as an essential service for remote communities, especially those located in special territories of the European Union, the free market system is not always capable of guaranteeing adequate transport modes regarding both travel fares and journey times. In this case study, three thin air routes have been analysed in the period between 2004 and 2019, showing that, on the issue of sustainable mobility, the imposition of Public Service Obligations can be extremely useful to solve the lack of competition for scheduled air services. These obligations, even in combination with resident subsidies, appear to ensure efficiently the basic air connectivity and quality of regular transport services concerned rather than by awarding regional advertising contracts.

Keywords: air transportation; European Union; transport modes; sustainable mobility; public service obligations; resident subsidies; transport services.

DOI: 10.1504/WRITR.2021.119532

World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research, 2021 Vol.10 No.4, pp.361 - 377

Received: 03 Feb 2021
Accepted: 25 Aug 2021
Published online: 08 Dec 2021 *

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