An Obligation to Provide Air Travel in the Covid-19 Era (A European Perspective)

This paper takes the reader on a circular journey. The setting is the European Union with the primary focus exploring the ‘vital’ need for transport and mobility, specifically the obligation to ensure the provision of air transport services.
Historical contextualization is firstly provided, which reveals a background of State protectionism in the field of aviation, including the use of subsidies to national airlines. The internal liberalization of the market through a series of packages is then considered. The key emphasis of this research is to investigate the Public Service Obligation (PSO) mechanism – which includes a case study as applied to cross border PSO use.
The latter part of the paper discusses the Covid-19 pandemic – the consequences and implications to airlines, passengers and national governments are all discussed. This includes the restriction to individual movement and the impact to airline businesses. In this current environment and a post Covid-19 world, the research concludes that there will be an increased need to support airlines through bailouts and that there is a likelihood that more routes will necessitate the use of PSOs. However, there is recognition given to the fact that this potentially will risk a return to an anti-competitive environment and the liberalized internal market.